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Asia’s First Saudi ETF Debuts in Hong Kong

The new fund covers comprehensive sector indices, including investment, finance, basic materials, energy, and communications (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The new fund covers comprehensive sector indices, including investment, finance, basic materials, energy, and communications (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Asia’s First Saudi ETF Debuts in Hong Kong

The new fund covers comprehensive sector indices, including investment, finance, basic materials, energy, and communications (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The new fund covers comprehensive sector indices, including investment, finance, basic materials, energy, and communications (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Hong Kong-based CSOP Asset Management announced that, in cooperation with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi CSOP Fund has been listed on the Hong Kong Financial Market as the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) targeting the Saudi financial market in East Asia.
According to information released on Wednesday, the fund will enable Asian investments to benefit from the essential opportunities provided by the diverse and thriving Saudi stock market.
The Saudi ETF tracks the performance of the FTSE Saudi Arabia Index to invest in shares of more than 50 leading large and medium-sized companies listed in the Saudi Tadawul market.
The new fund covers a comprehensive number of sector indices, including investment and finance, basic materials, energy, and communications, which allows it to benefit from the performance of the most important indicators in the stimulating sectors of the Saudi economy.
The initial listing of the fund is scheduled to take place with assets under management worth more than $1 billion. At the same time, the launch of the CSOP Saudi ETF will allow East Asian investors to invest in the prosperous Saudi economy and contribute to its development by taking advantage of broad and promising future opportunities.

The Public Investment Fund seeks to boost its partnerships in various global markets, paving the way for unprecedented opportunities between the leading financial market center in Hong Kong and the Saudi stock market.
The Asian company said that Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, noting that the Kingdom ranks as the 17th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal gross domestic product in 2022.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest oil exporter, and its economy expanded 8.7 percent in 2022 to exceed $1 trillion in size, outperforming its counterparts in the Middle East and the G20.
The Kingdom gained more growth engines after the unveiling of Vision 2030 in 2016, a long-term economic transformation plan to push the country into a diversified future.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.