Saudi Arabia orders foreign banks to disclose finances

Dubai

SAUDI Arabia's investment banking regulator is telling international banks to publicly disclose financial statements for the first time as the kingdom seeks to boost transparency.

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) is requiring financial institutions it regulates to publish the information on their websites from April 1, an official at the Riyadh-based regulator said in response to questions, without giving further information. Entities licensed by the CMA, as the investment banking and markets regulator is known, include the units of international banks and the securities arms of local lenders.