Ankura opens branch in Riyadh on major economic reforms in Saudi Arabia: Official

Kassem Younes, Senior Managing Director at Ankura

Kassem Younes, Senior Managing Director at the global expert services and advisory firm Ankura, said the major economic reforms, economic growth and availability of appropriate infrastructure in the Kingdom prompted the company to open an office in Riyad.

In an interview with Argaam, Younes added that opening an office for the company in Riyadh is a strategic decision that was taken in light of the firm’s previous cooperation with a large number of companies and institutions in the Saudi capital. “In addition, Riyadh is ideally located in the heart of the Kingdom, and is close to government agencies and the majority of large companies.”

Further, the top official indicated that Ankura’s presence in Riyadh facilitates work with other regions in the Kingdom, as King Khalid International Airport operates several daily domestic flights.

The advisory services provider is working with several Saudi authorities and institutions to help build better frameworks to combat financial crimes, as well as enhance transparency and compliance in the Kingdom.

“We often cooperate to detect a fraud when the management or the regulator suspects the occurrence of such a crime, or proactively help develop and implement better strategies for early detection and mitigation of financial crimes,” Younes said.

Companies lose more than 5% of their annual revenues due to fraud crimes - according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) - with an average loss of more than SAR 3.75 million for each fraud in the Middle East, he concluded.