Britain's Prince Andrew tours SABB's new head office

The hour-long visit by the second son of Queen Elizabeth II follows the announcement of a significant further commitment to Saudi Arabia's developing economy by HSBC, a 40 per cent shareholder in SABB and Britain's and Europe's largest financial services organization.

HSBC is to invest SAR32.5 million in SABB Takaful, the Islamic insurance company which is now in formation and will be the subject of an IPO this month. The new commitment brings the value of HSBC's current total investment in ventures in Saudi Arabia to in excess of SAR 17.5 billion.

The Duke of York, who has long shown a particular interest in Islamic methods of financing, was given a presentation on the new company and the Takaful concept by SABB management and spoke to SABB Takaful staff about the preparations for the company's launch expected in April.

Adel Al Nasser, deputy managing director of SABB and a SABB Takaful board member, said: "Prince Andrew's visit highlights the importance of the commercial links between Saudi Arabia and Britain and is a demonstration of international confidence in the continuing growth of the Saudi economy.

"His visit also marks HSBC's commitment to Saudi Arabia. HSBC was a pioneer in British investment in Saudi Arabia and has a history of commitment to the Kingdom dating back well over half a century. We are proud to be part of the HSBC network and equally proud that Prince Andrew should have chosen to spend time with us to hear about new developments at SABB."

HSBC's investment portfolio in Saudi Arabia includes not only its stake in SABB and in the SABB Takaful joint venture with SABB but also a 60 per cent holding in investment bankers, HSBC Saudi Arabia.Ltd, of which SABB owns 40 per cent.

SABB is one of the largest financial institutions in Saudi Arabia with 73 branches nationwide employing more than 2800 staff , 85 per cent of them Saudi nationals. The Bank recently reported record profits for 2006 of SAR 3,040-million.