EFG Hermes announced it signed a “strategic partnership agreement” with Saxo Bank that will “enable full integration of Saxo Bank’s SaxoTraderGO platform with EFG Hermes’ new online trading platform, EFG Hermes One.” The new platform will give clients “one-click access” to financial instruments in multiple MENA markets and global exchanges. “MENA is a market with many interesting trading opportunities and by integrating Saxo Bank’s multi-asset, award-winning platform with EFG Hermes’ regional offering and reach, we are levelling the playing field and enabling a wide range of investors and traders to access a broad range of investment opportunities by equipping them with the latest trading and analytical tools,” said Saxo Bank’s CEO and co-founder Kim Fournais. EFG Hermes One will be available to investors across the region next month, the release noted. In its earnings release, EFG Hermes had said it will announce “ a strategic alliance with a global player which will both push new revenue lines and serve to expand our access to new markets.” The two announced the partnership at a presser in Dubai (watch, run time: 9:15)

EFG Hermes Group CEO Karim Awad gets love from Reuters in a piece that outlines the Saxo partnership as well as EFG’s plans to expand its digital product offering, grow its geographic footprint into frontier markets and the United States, and expand its non-bank finance offering in Egypt.

…Separately, Awad told Reuters the firm is "seeing evidence of investor interest in treasury bills which will be of extreme importance to the government in growing bond yields and supporting the currency going forward."