When investment banks decide they want to build operations in the Gulf, their first stop is often Dubai. Yet for all its benefits – not least of which is that it is fairly easy to persuade bankers to go and work there – an office in Dubai doesn’t always crack the problem. In particular, it doesn’t much help win business in Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest economy.

Next stop: the highly protected Saudi market, which has opened a crack. A dozen or so foreign banks now have investment banking licences and some early birds, notably HSBC, are doing a substantial amount of business. The latest entrants are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, with local partners National Commercial Bank and Capital Group respectively. At the current rate, most of the world’s leading banks seem likely to have set up shop in Saudi by the end of the year.