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Lazard Ltd. employed Wassim Al-Khatib as chief government officer for the agency’s advisory enterprise within the Center East and North Africa, and the boutique funding financial institution plans to make Riyadh its regional banking hub.

Al-Khatib, the previous head of Citigroup Inc. in Saudi Arabia, may also be CEO of Lazard Saudi Arabia, in response to a press release, confirming a Bloomberg Information report. Previous to that Al-Khatib was the top of funding banking at NCB Capital, the place he was one of many key bankers concerned in Saudi Aramco’s mammoth preliminary public providing.

Learn Extra: Lazard Set to Rent Key Aramco IPO Banker From Citigroup

Funding banks are increasing in Saudi Arabia as the dominion embarks on a plan to diversify its financial system away from oil by promoting stakes in state-owned corporations and investing in new industries. The nation can also be attempting to turn into the area’s principal enterprise and finance hub.

The oil-rich kingdom can also be changing into an more and more necessary marketplace for Lazard. The funding financial institution is advising on financing choices for Neom, a $500 billion high-tech metropolis underneath building in northwestern Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported in November. In September, the agency named Saudi inventory alternate chair Sarah Al-Suhaimi as chair of its monetary advisory enterprise within the Center East and North Africa.

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