Foreigners ready for MSCI's Saudi upgrade: HSBC

Dubai

HSBC Holdings plc, which has the biggest investment bank in Saudi Arabia, says foreign investors are getting ready for their first significant stock purchases in the kingdom as an upgrade to emerging-market status looks likely.

It's "inevitable" that MSCI Inc, whose classifications can influence billions of dollars of asset allocations, will add Saudi Arabia to its emerging-market benchmarks, Majed Najm, chief executive officer of the British lender's Saudi unit, said.