Goldman Sachs said to apply for Saudi trading license

Goldman Sachs has applied to Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA) for a license to trade equities in the Kingdom, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street-listed bank, just like other investment banks and fund managers, is looking to expand in the Kingdom following Saudi Aramco's plan for a $100 billion initial public offering (IPO), and is encouraged by the financial reforms made since 2015 to attract foreign capital, it was reported.

The reforms have lured international firms such as BlackRock Inc, Citigroup, HSBC and Ashmore Group to join the list of institutional investors that can directly trade the market.