Al Rajhi Capital selects EquiLend for securities finance tech

Al Rajhi Capital has appointed EquiLend as its securities finance technology partner to replace manual and legacy processes with a single platform covering post-trade automation, inventory and collateral management, and connectivity for lending and borrowing.

The platform will be used to manage securities lending, repurchase agreements, collateral optimisation and trade lifecycle processing. It is designed to support straight-through processing, provide real-time position visibility and deliver standardised messaging across trading and custody workflows.

Al Rajhi Capital, the investment arm of a major Saudi banking group, cited operational efficiency and improved risk controls as the primary objectives of the upgrade. The firm plans to integrate the new system with its existing trading, clearing and custody partners in the Saudi market to reduce reconciliation work and shorten settlement cycles for securities finance transactions.

EquiLend will provide cloud-enabled services and API connectivity to link Al Rajhi Capital with counterparties and market infrastructure. The vendor’s tools are intended to automate trade capture, margining, collateral calls and regulatory reporting and to support bilateral and tri-party arrangements.

Implementation will be phased to align with Al Rajhi Capital’s operational calendar and compliance milestones. Integration work will include mapping position and collateral feeds, setting up counterparty connectivity and configuring rules for collateral eligibility and substitution. The two firms will coordinate testing ahead of each go-live to limit disruption to daily trading.

The appointment follows growing interest among regional asset managers in expanding securities lending programmes and improving post-trade efficiency. Market changes that widened investor access and increased trading volumes have increased demand for clearer inventory management and more efficient collateral handling.

Al Rajhi Capital expects the technology upgrade to reduce manual exceptions, speed trade processing and improve transparency for counterparties and regulators. EquiLend’s platform is expected to allow the firm to produce more detailed audit trails and standardised reports required by local authorities and international counterparties.