Foreign banks cautious after Saad saga

Foreign banks will become more cautious when lending to Saudi family businesses, following the trouble at two large conglomerates that shook confidence in the region, an executive at France's BNP Paribas said.

Privately-owned firms Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Al-Gosaibi and Brothers Co (AHAB) are restructuring their debt in a complex, multi-billion dollar process that involves local and international banks, as well as legal and other financial stakeholders.

"There will be an impact on the appetite of the banking sector to lend in Saudi Arabia," Jean-Christophe Durand, chief executive of BNP Paribas in the Gulf region, told reporters in Dubai late on Monday.