The Saudi Ministry of Finance and the National Debt Management Center (NDMC) have signed an agreement with HSBC to appoint it as a primary dealer in the government's local debt instruments.
The institution will join the six other international institutions, namely, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Societe Generale, and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as the 10 local institutions, namely, the Saudi National Bank (SNB), the Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), Bank AlJazira, Alinma Bank, Al Rajhi Bank, Albilad Capital, Aljazira Capital, Al Rajhi Capital, Derayah Financial Company, and Saudi Fransi Capital.
The agreement is part of the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) strategy as a step toward achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 by strengthening financial sector institutions and advancing the financial market.
It also confirms the role of the NDMC in enhancing access to local debt markets through diversifying the investor base to ensure sustainable access to the secondary market and to support its development; these efforts have resulted in recent dual inclusion in both the J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) and the Bloomberg Emerging Markets Local Currency Government Index, which will contribute to increasing the presence of Saudi debt instruments within global investment portfolios, enhancing liquidity in the secondary market, and raising the international competitiveness of the local debt market.
The applications for subscription in the primary market for the government's local debt instruments are submitted to the NDMC through the appointed primary dealers on a scheduled monthly basis, and these dealers receive the applications submitted by investors.