... and an $8B bank for industry, mining

Saudi entity to manage assets taken in probe

dubai/zurich — Saudi Arabia is setting up an organisation to manage assets relinquished by detainees as part of settlement agreements in the crackdown on alleged corruption, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The kingdom is talking to consultants about how to set up the entity, which will evaluate and potentially sell holdings handed over by billionaires and princes in exchange for their freedom, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

Hani Halawani, head of direct investments at Sanabil Investments, part of the Public Investment Fund, will help run the organisation, the people said. The government’s Center for International Communication didn’t respond to a request for comment. Halawani didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saudi authorities are hoping to reach agreements with detainees “within weeks” after the arrests at the beginning of November, according to the kingdom’s attorney general. Authorities DUBAI — Saudi Arabia will establish an export bank with capital of $8 billion to support overseas sales by its industrial and mining projects, energy, industry and mineral resources minister Khalid Al Falih said on Wednesday.

“A bank for exports with a capital of SR30 billion will be established to encourage and support exports, and SR5 billion have been allocated as a first installment this year,” he said in a speech. — could recover as much as $100 billion from the settlement deals, according to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Some of Switzerland’s largest banks have in recent weeks flagged suspicious account activity to the Swiss money laundering office, according to two people. — Bloomberg