As the banking sector in Saudi Arabia continues to achieve remarkable growth, HSBC Group announced that it has agreed to transfer its asset management, retail brokerage and retail margin lending businesses to Alawwal Invest, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Saudi British Bank (SABB). The move coincides with the announcement by the National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group last month that the merger process had been completed to form the largest bank in Saudi Arabia and the region under the name of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia. Stephen Moss, HSBC Group’s chief executive for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region, said: “This transaction will allow HSBC Saudi Arabia to focus its resources on its market-leading investment banking, institutional brokerage and custody businesses, which serve domestic as well as international corporate and institutional clients in the Kingdom.” HSBC Group owns 51 percent of HSBC Saudi Arabia, while SABB owns 49 percent. HSBC Group is the largest investor in SABB with a shareholding of 31%. “As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia marks the five-year anniversary of its Vision 2030 program, we want to ensure HSBC Saudi Arabia is focused on connecting our corporate and institutional clients to the vast opportunities that arise from one of the world’s most ambitious economic transformation programs, while ensuring that our current retail and asset management clients will benefit from a transfer into one of the Kingdom’s leading domestic banking platforms,” said Rajiv Shukla, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Saudi Arabia.