Breakingviews - Cox: Global finance has a Saudi Arabia problem | Reuters

Breakingviews - Cox: Global finance has a Saudi Arabia problem | Reuters:

Is global finance complicit with Saudi Arabian tyranny? Following the alleged assassination of a journalist critical of the kingdom, that’s the question leaders of the world’s biggest banks and investment firms must ask themselves before they fuel up their jets and head to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Davos in the Desert” in just over a week. From a strictly moral perspective, if they believe a scintilla of what has been put forward by Turkish authorities, they should bow out as JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon did Sunday night.

The top American, European and Japanese banks and investment firms do business with many governments and regimes their executives can’t be particularly proud of at dinner time with the family. They rationalize the work by saying if they don’t do it, someone else will; and, anyway, they’re in no position to judge the political systems of other nations. These are potentially defensible arguments that can be applied to many clients associated with China, Russia and other countries accused of human-rights abuses.

The Saudi case adds a complicated wrinkle to this calculus. First, the Saudis deny involvement in the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, who entered the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul and didn’t come out, Reuters reported. Second, there is little guidance from above on how to proceed. President Donald Trump has expressed dismay over the alleged killing by Saudi agents. But Trump, who has branded the U.S. press as “enemies of the people,” also said he didn’t want the matter to affect a $110 billion sale of arms to Saudi.