Credit Suisse will receive Saudi banking licence, finance minister says

RIYADH (Reuters) - A banking licence to operate in Saudi Arabia will be issued to Credit Suisse, Mohammed al-Jadaan, the kingdom's finance minister said on Wednesday.

The Swiss bank has been seeking to obtain a full banking licence in the Middle East's largest economy and in July last year the bank's Chief Executive, Tidjane Thiam, said he travelled personally to the country to file the application.

However, in October Thiam - who had been scheduled to go to the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh - decided not to attend the event, joining several other top executives who bowed out amidst uproar over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar and Stephen Kalin, writing by Davide Barbuscia)