Al Mawarid closes AM Financials

Liquidation finalized by end-February

AM Financials, a local financial institution offering online equities trading, has terminated its operations. The Central Bank withdrew the firm’s license in a decision issued last month.
AM Financials is majority-owned by Al Mawarid Bank. The rest of its shares, 25 percent, were owned by Saudi investor Mohammed Al-Hamidi, who was its managing director.

Around mid-2012 Al-Mawarid bought Hamidi’s stake in AM Financials. “The bank interfered after the firm lost huge sums due to bad management,” sources close to the deal said. “The Central Bank gave the bank two choices, either to raise AM Financials' capital or to close it down,” the sources said.

AM Financials has called on its clients to transfer their accounts to another financial institution, or to liquidate their positions, and transfer any resulting proceeds.
The liquidation process is expected to be finalized by end-February.