Bahrain-based Unicorn Investment Bank said its Saudi brokerage has won a licence from Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) to launch its brokerage services in the Kingdom.

With this, Unicorn Capital Saudi Arabia (UCSA) can now provide a range of services, including trading in securities (as principal and agent), custody, underwriting, arranging, advising and managing, including funds and DPM, said a top official.

Yousef A. Al-Shelash, chairman of UCSA, said: 'The granting of our brokerage license is an important strategic milestone for Unicorn and will allow us to better support our clients in Saudi Arabia as well as our non-Saudi clients seeking access to the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding financial sector.'

'We are enormously grateful to the CMA for their timely review of our license application, and we look forward to expanding our product and services offering in the Kingdom,' Al-Shelash remarked.

According to him, the UCSA will focus on developing its brokerage business in listed equities and fixed income securities. All operations and activities will be strictly in compliance with Shari’ah principles, he added.

UCSA has been present in Saudi Arabia since August 2009 and offers an integrated range of Shari’ah-compliant financial services, including asset management, corporate finance and private equity.

Headquartered in Bahrain, Unicorn Investment Bank has established a strategic presence in the US, Malaysia, and Turkey, in addition to UCSA in Saudi Arabia.-TradeArabia News Service