JPMorgan Chase is set to add another 20 people to its Saudi Arabia operation by the end of the year as it looks to capitalize on one of the world's few bright spots for equity capital markets, despite simmering political tensions between U.S. President Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
The U.S. bank will have doubled the size of its Saudi operations by the end of the year, compared with 2016, Bader Alamoudi, JPMorgan's senior country officer, said in an interview. The bank will be hiring across investment bankers, local custody, client services and back-office staff, he said.
"We see a very strong pipeline of deals coming up across M&A and IPOs, there's still a lot of interest from local companies to list and from foreign investors looking to get exposure to the Saudi market," he said.
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chairman and chief executive, is due to arrive in Riyadh later this week to attend Saudi Arabia's flagship investment conference, dubbed Davos in the Desert. His visit comes at a time when political relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are at one of their lowest ebbs.
Biden has threatened Saudi Arabia with unspecified "consequences" for a decision made by oil producer group OPEC+ to cut production in the face of U.S. opposition to the move. OPEC+ members, which also include Russia, have said the cut was in response to a weakening crude demand outlook, and was not a political decision.
U.S. bankers have significantly expanded their presence in Saudi Arabia since Prince Mohammed launched a plan to overhaul the kingdom's economy by opening up to foreign investors, selling off state-owned assets, and seeking to build one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds. That's helped make Saudi Arabia a hot spot for initial public offerings even as deals dry up in other parts of the world.
"Competition has definitely increased but we've been here for the long term and will continue to invest to serve our clients and bring new products and offerings to Saudi Arabia," Alamoudi said.
