EFS opens Dh100m unit in Riyadh

Emaar Financial Services (EFS), whose shareholders include developer Emaar Properties, said yesterday it would start a financial services firm in Saudi Arabia as part of a regional expansion plan.

Emaar Saudi Financial Services would have capital of Dh100 million and start operations after getting final approval from Saudi authorities, Jamal Yassin, head of Emaar Financial's head of international business development, said.

A number of Gulf financial services firms, including Dubai investment bank Shuaa Capital, are setting up units in the world's largest oil exporter to take advantage of an economic boom triggered by a more than six-fold rise in oil prices since 2002.

Saudi Arabia is the most-populous Gulf Arab state and the Kingdom's bourse is the largest is in the Arab world.

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