HSBC’s Saudi Arabia investment, asset management heads resign

Abdulhadi Shahadah, head of asset management for HSBC in Saudi Arabia, and Mazin Baghdadi, head of investment management in the kingdom, resigned from the London-based bank.

An internal candidate has been identified to take over as the head of investment management, subject to regulatory approval, said a spokesman for HSBC Saudi Arabia. A new head of asset management will be announced shortly, he said.

HSBC’s assets under management for mutual funds in the public domain at the end of June was about $1.4 billion. The bank also offers discretionary portfolio-management services to wealthy individuals and corporate and institutional clients.

In 2014, HSBC was blocked from taking in new funds at its Saudi asset-management business after local regulators found that it breached rules, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in April last year. That ban was lifted in July 2015.

HSBC holds a 40 per cent stake in Saudi British Bank and a 49 per cent share in HSBC Saudi Arabia. The bank last month named Georges Elhedery chief executive for the Middle East and North Africa, replacing Mohammad Al Tuwaijri who joined the Saudi Arabian government as deputy minister of economy and planning in May.

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