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Saudi Arabia Responds to Shifting US Attitudes

<p>Saudi Arabia is reexamining its multibillion dollar US financial plan in the wake of Donald Trump&rsquo&semi;s election&period; Those involved in discussions highlighted the passage of a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchingbagpost&period;com&sol;new-legislation-would-allow-911-victims-to-sue-saudi-arabia&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>new bill &ndash&semi; one that could allow victims of 9&sol;11 to sue Saudi Arabia<&sol;strong><&sol;a> &ndash&semi; as one of the main reasons for reassessment&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Fifteen of the 19 attackers involved in 9&sol;11 were Saudi&comma; but no evidence has been found to implicate the Saudi Arabian government&period; Even so&comma; the kingdom has largely been blamed for the attack&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite serious pressure from Saudi lobbyists&comma; Congress overrode President Obama&&num;8217&semi;s veto and the &&num;8220&semi;Saudi 9&sol;11 Bill&&num;8221&semi; was passed in September&period; Hillary Clinton was expected to win at the time&comma; and many&nbsp&semi;had expected legislators to soften the law&rsquo&semi;s wording after the elections&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Saudi lobbyists have suggested that the law may affect the kingdom&rsquo&semi;s US investment plans&period; &ldquo&semi;A shift in Saudi Arabia&rsquo&semi;s US investing strategy now could become a negotiating point in the kingdom&rsquo&semi;s broader relationship with the US&comma;&rdquo&semi; reports the&nbsp&semi;<em>Wall Street Journal&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The implications of the bill remain unclear&comma; but the kingdom&rsquo&semi;s sovereign-wealth fund has called a halt on all US investments for the time being&period; &ldquo&semi;The prospect of being found liable for the attacks has made Saudi leaders worry that big transactions in the US could expose their assets to legal judgments&comma;&rdquo&semi; reports the WSJ&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>President-elect Trump&nbsp&semi;has professed to be on friendly terms with the Saudis&period; His pick for defense secretary &ndash&semi; retired General James Mattis &ndash&semi; is also a Saudi supporter&period; But Trump supports the 9&sol;11 law and&nbsp&semi;has also challenged the Saudis with the promise to increase domestic oil production&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Trump&rsquo&semi;s election may also have an effect on where the Saudis go with the initial public offering of state oil company Aramco &ndash&semi; the world&rsquo&semi;s biggest oil producer&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Saudi officials have met with representatives from numerous stock exchanges including New York and London&period; Aramco&rsquo&semi;s debut&comma; which has been set for 2017 or 2018&comma; could easily become the largest IPO in history and raise over &dollar;100 billion in proceeds&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;The prospect has set banks scrambling for a deal that could bring &dollar;1 billion in fees&comma;&rdquo&semi; reports the WSJ&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The kingdom plans to list about 5&percnt; of Aramco on public markets in order to diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on oil&period; Saudi Arabia is&nbsp&semi;also reconsidering how it will invest money from its enormous Public Investment Fund&comma; and officials have suggested turning it into a &ldquo&semi;war chest for non-oil investments abroad&comma;&rdquo&semi; reports the WSJ&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In June&comma; the fund invested over &dollar;3 billion in Uber Technologies&comma; Inc&period; Despite several talks&nbsp&semi;with investors in Silicon Valley&comma; the fund invested&nbsp&semi;&dollar;45 billion in the Japanese company SoftBank in October&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;Several people familiar with the Saudi government&rsquo&semi;s investment plans say Saudi officials decided to make the huge investment in SoftBank after the terrorism legislation&comma; and the money that went into SoftBank could have gone directly into US investments or US investment firms&period; There were concerns about their exposure if they invested directly&comma;&rdquo&semi; reports the WSJ&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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