Nomura will announce that it has received a licence to operate in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first east Asian bank to set up there, according to Zawya, a local business information company. The Saudi regulator has authorised Japan's largest investment bank to carry out investment and private banking, as well as selling foreign stocks. Nomura plan to launch the first Middle Eastern mutual fund tailored to Japanese and Asian investors, replicating similar funds that targeted other fast-growing markets, such as India and China, which drew strong Japanese retail interest. The office will be led by its senior regional investment bankers, Anais Faraj and Javed Hussain, reporting to Takuya Furuya, president of Nomura's Middle Eastern operations. Nomura has had a regional base in Bahrain since 1980. Its move into Saudi Arabia comes as Riyadh encourages banks to open offices there to build a more mature financial services sector and create jobs.