Barclays and Société Générale were on Sunday granted investment banking licences for Saudi Arabia, becoming the latest international banks looking to tap into the Arab world’s largest economy.

Abdulrahman al-Tuwaijri, chairman of the CMA, told the Financial Times that the regulator is also planning to enable investment groups to launch Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) before the end of the year as it seeks to develop the Saudi market and attract more institutional investment.