More banking executives boycott Saudi investment conference

The chief executives of the banks were the latest business names to boycott Future Investment Initiative [FII] amid growing concern over the fate of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"John Flint will no longer attend Future Investment Initiative," a spokeswoman for HSBC told Reuters.

StanChart Chief Executive Bill Winters would also not attend, a bank spokesman confirmed, while the chief executive of Credit Suisse has also cancelled his planned visit to Riyadh for the event, Reuters reported.

On Monday, chief executives of senior banks JP & Chase Co and BlackRock announced they were pulling out of the FII.

The cancellations could put pressure on other US firms like Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Bank of America, to reconsider plans to attend the event.

The conference, which will take place in Riyadh between 23 and 25 October, is an attempt by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to encourage foreign companies to invest in the kingdom, as it seeks to diversify its economy away from oil and gas.

It was also an attempt to help promote the image of the crown prince as a reformer, but the case of Khashoggi has overshadowed the conference with business giants such as Uber, Bloomberg, Virgin Group and Google pulling out.

Calls have been made for other attendees to withdraw their support over Khashoggi's suspected murder.

Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for the Washington Post, disappeared during a visit to the Saudi consulate on 2 October. Since then, Turkish sources have claimed that the 59-year-old was killed on the orders of Riyadh by a 15-member hit squad sent from the kingdom.