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The bank, which exited Saudi Arabia in 2014, is now securing a new investment banking license and plans to open offices in Riyadh by early 2026, CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, where he was attending the Fortune Global Forum and the kingdom’s flagship annual Future Investment Initiative summit. ​Confirming the bank’s re-entry into Saudi Arabia and that the kingdom “will be recognizing” the new regional headquarters in just a couple of days, the kingdom’s Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said, “People have seen that the kingdom is a long-term partner. We’re not transactional.”

Venkatakrishnan told Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell that working with trusted partners is important “because you’re making fairly large commitments financially and otherwise, and you need to work with partners whom you can trust and who are there for the long term and who will help you through the teething troubles.”

Barclays joins a growing list of financial giants like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC setting up deeper roots in the Gulf’s largest economy; by contrast JP Morgan is celebrating 90 years of doing business in the region. The move underscores Saudi Arabia’s ambition to transform itself from being a petroleum superpower into a diversified global business and financial hub, and increasingly a strategic nexus from which major businesses can access three different continents with ease.

The wider RHQ program

Saudi Arabia’s nine-year-old economic transformation plan, known as Vision 2030, is 85% complete, Minister Al-Falih said in opening remarks at the Fortune Global Forum. The strategy has already attracted over 675 regional headquarters—well past its original target of 500 by 2030—through generous incentives such as 30-year tax exemptions, tax relief, and streamlined regulatory frameworks.​

The government’s Regional Headquarters Program, launched in 2021 by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, aims to make the capital the de facto economic center of the Middle East. Multinational players such as PwC, Deloitte, Lenovo, and Siemens Energy have already relocated leadership operations from Dubai and other hubs to Riyadh. Unlike special economic zone offices elsewhere, RHQs in Riyadh are designed to serve as genuine operational bases—not symbolic branches—managing corporate strategy and human capital across the entire Middle East and Africa. Also, Riyadh’s trillion-dollar transformation—anchored by NEOM, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and megaprojects across tourism, AI, and green energy—represents a lucrative opportunity for capital providers.​​

At a breakout session at the Fortune Global Forum, executives hailed the program as transformative for localization, manufacturing, and innovation. Executives at Lenovo, for example, detailed construction of the region’s largest ICT manufacturing plant in the Saudi desert, while leaders at Siemens Energy spoke of expanding exports across the Middle East through its Riyadh-based regional center.​

In conversation with Diane Brady, Executive Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media, executives from Massimo, Siemens, and Lucid Motors highlighted that their RHQs have allowed them to do things like scale production, export vehicles to Europe, and build AI-driven health and transport systems from within the kingdom.​

Air Liquide announces today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire NovaAir, a leading industrial gas producer and supplier in India, from PAG, an Asia-focused private equity firm. This acquisition represents another investment for the Group in the country and a strategic milestone in its Indian growth story.

Founded in 2019, NovaAir is a full-service industrial gases platform supplying bulk industrial gases, critical specialty gases, and providing onsite services and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) support to its clients in the key industrial regions of East and South India. The company serves customers in the steel, automotive, fabrication, electronics, photovoltaic and healthcare industries, among others. 

The acquisition of NovaAir which is present in the East and South of India complements Air Liquide’s existing operations in the North and West of the country, bringing a large project portfolio managed by an experienced team. Through this operation, the expanded geographical reach will substantially strengthen Air Liquide’s footprint in the industrial merchant market, allowing it to better serve customers in the growing automotive, metals, electronics and healthcare sectors.

This acquisition follows a series of recent investments in India by Air Liquide, underscoring the Group’s commitment to investing in the long-term growth opportunities of the Indian market. Air Liquide has been present in India since 1992 and has solid ambitions in this country. The Group’s operations in India encompass the supply of industrial and medical gases, engineering and construction services, cryogenic equipment manufacturing, medical systems for healthcare and the development of speciality chemical ingredients.

Emilie Mouren-Renouard, member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee, notably in charge of supervising activities in India, stated: 

“This acquisition represents a new step in our development in India. It demonstrates our long-term commitment to supporting the country’s industrial and healthcare development. This acquisition will significantly enhance our capacity to serve customers from small and medium enterprises to large industrial players, across a wider geographic footprint. It is another illustration of the growth potential of the Group.”

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Standard Chartered Bank (“Standard Chartered”) and Bank of India, IFSC Banking unit (“BOI”), GIFT City, on the US$215m refinancing of six Boeing B777-300ER aircraft for Air India Limited (“Air India”).

Implementing an innovative structure, the first of its kind in India, this transaction marks the first time a financing for an Indian airline has been structured directly to a borrower in GIFT City, India’s emerging international financial hub, which has not been structured through Ireland.

Lending directly to AI Fleet Services IFSC Limited (“AI Fleet”) – Air India’s GIFT City-based subsidiary – demonstrates significant increase in market confidence and regulatory maturity in India. BOI’s involvement as lender establishes Indian domestic appetite for financing its aircraft and is evidence of the growing role of Indian domestic financial institutions are sure to play in India’s ambitions in aviation. This innovative structure not only streamlines execution but also facilitates Indian domestic participation in a more cost-effective structure.

Standard Chartered is a leading international banking group offering global financial services, whilst BOI is a major public sector bank in India providing a wide range of domestic and international banking solutions.

The cross-border WFW Aviation team that advised Standard Chartered and BOI was led by Singapore Asset and Structured Finance Partner Richard Williams, with outstanding support from Associates May Eng and Rheya Panjwani and Paralegal Lydia Ong. New York law advice was provided by Counsel Maxi Adamski-De Visser and Associate Chloe Sucato.

Richard commented: “The groundbreaking new structure used to complete this transaction sets a precedent for aviation finance for India. Lending directly to AI Fleet with the involvement of BOI represents a strong vote of confidence in Indian aviation and the recently developed regulatory framework in India. Advising on matters of this nature highlights WFW’s market leading footprint in Indian aviation finance.  Our thanks go to Standard Chartered, BOI, Air India and AI Fleet for their confidence in us and the other legal professional advisors, whose collaborative approach was essential in closing this transaction”.