Women have been named to head Saudi Arabia's stock exchange and a major bank, AFP reported Monday (February 20th).
Samba Financial Group on Sunday said Rania Mahmoud Nashar had begun work as chief executive officer.
The announcement came three days after the Saudi stock exchange, known as Tadawul, named Sarah al-Suhaimi as chairwoman of its board.
In a notice to the Saudi stock exchange, Samba said Nashar had almost 20 years' experience in banking and had followed an "executive career" programme at Samba.
Samba also said that Nashar was the first Saudi woman certified as an anti-money laundering specialist by a respected association of experts who combat financial crime.
Tadawul's al-Suhaimi is the CEO of NCB Capital, the investment banking arm of National Commercial Bank.
She was the first female head of a Saudi investment bank when named to that post in 2014, according to Bloomberg News.
She is expected to remain at the bank while leading Tadawul, the Arab world's largest bourse.
The kingdom seeks to boost the proportion of women in the job market to 28% by 2020.
