Barclays and Société Générale have received investment banking licences for Saudi Arabia, according to the Financial Times, which quoted the Saudi markets regulator.

The Capital Markets Authority plans to allow investment groups to launch exchange traded funds before the end of the year, the newspaper said.

The report said Barclays and SocGen are in the process of setting up offices in the kingdom.

The ETF market has expanded rapidly in recent years. The world’s largest ETF provider, iShares, is part of Barclays Global Investors, now owned by the US-listed firm, BlackRock. Other large ETF providers include SocGen, Deutsche Bank and State Street.