Saudi ‘P-Notes’ are equity linked certificates that enable foreign institutions to invest in the Saudi market. While direct equity access for foreigners is still not allowed by the Saudi exchange (Tadawul), CA Cheuvreux can distribute Saudi ‘P-Notes’ through its ability to contract financial exposure to the Saudi market through swap agreements with its local executing broker, Fransi Tadawul, a local broker and a subsidiary of Banque Saudi Fransi (31.1% affiliate of Calyon).
Some of the key features of CA Cheuvreux’s Saudi P-Notes include the equity linked certificates referencing a large pool of Saudi stocks are guaranteed by Calyon (subject to the terms of the issuance programme), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Credit Agricole Group, no local currency exposure as Saudi ‘P-Notes’ are priced in US dollars. Real-time indicative pricing is provided via Bloomberg and no pre-funding required as settlement is in US dollars via Euroclear on T+ 3 basis.
The certificates replicate the economic returns of the underlying Saudi stocks without the local custody or administration requirement. The holder does not have any voting rights and beneficiary details have to be reported to the local Saudi regulator (CMA). Foreigners are subject to the same ownership restrictions as direct equity investors and no short position is allowed.
Ian Peacock, global head of execution services at CA Cheuvreux, said: “We have supplemented our GCC offering with the addition of Saudi ‘P-Notes’ to provide our clients with another access method to GCC’s principal capital market.
“We are satisfying an increasing interest from our clients who are looking to invest in the restricted Saudi market region through this simple and convenient structure. These certificates reflect the full economic return of the underlying security and give our clients another product to synthetically invest in Tadawul listed companies.”
