Apex to offer admin services in Saudi Arabia

Apex Fund Services has joined forces with Saudi Arabia-based Albilad Capital to offer fund administration services to Saudi funds.

Custodian Albilad will act as the named administrator, while Apex undertake the administration services for the third-party custodian and its local real estate and private equity clients.

Under Saudi rules, all funds must appoint a local custodian but there is no requirement for an administrator. But if a fund chooses to use one, it must be licensed by the regulator, the Capital Markets Authority.

The agreement was driven by an increase in demand for fund administration services in the Kingdom as a result of regulatory change.

The CMA has been revamping its corporate governance rules in a bid to modernise and diversify the country’s economy, and in February unveiled the latest in a series of changes to the rules.

“Locally-domiciled funds have flourished. The CMA and other regulators have encouraged this growth and stability, and have been revolutionising the structuring of private equity in Saudi Arabia,” Nabil Issa, partner at King & Spalding said.