The US Senate is investigating Saudi Arabia's efforts to expand its influence through its investment fund. The companies that have consulted the fund have been reluctant to cooperate.
The big ones executives of consulting firms warned US lawmakers on Tuesday that their employees in Saudi Arabia could face prison terms if the companies release detailed information about their work to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
The investment fund is the de facto ruler of the country, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman administered by.
Four consulting companies have been accused in the United States of not cooperating with the Senate to clarify the consulting work they did for the fund. Among other things, they reported on the matter Financial Times (FT) and financial news agency Bloomberg.
of the United States a Senate investigative committee is investigating how Saudi Arabia uses “soft power” to expand its influence in the United States and clean up its image. This kind of soft power is, for example, the investments that the Saudi Arabian state investment fund PIF has made in sports.
The investigation began when the PGA golf tour, which is mainly played in the United States, and the Saudi-funded LIV tour joined forcesbut since then it has expanded to include the investment fund's investments in the United States more broadly.
Tuesday McKinsey, BCG, Teneo and director of a consulting company bearing his own name Michael Klein were heard by the senators because the companies have not handed over the requested documents and information about the work they have done for the fund.
The companies have relied on the fact that the Saudi fund PIF has sued the companies to prevent them from handing over documents it considers to be secret.
According to Klein, Saudi Arabia has threatened the company's management and local employees with prison sentences of up to 20 years if they cooperate in the investigation. According to the FT, Klein is a long-time adviser to the Saudi fund and last year helped broker a deal between the fund and golf's PGA Tour.
The Saudi fund, for its part, said in a statement on Tuesday that it has “made and continues to make efforts to facilitate the submission of information requested from its advisers in accordance with Saudi Arabian laws,” Bloomberg and the FT report.
FT's Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on foreign consultants to accelerate its plan to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
In 2021, the state investment fund became the largest owner of the English Premier League club Newcastle United. In the United States, it has made significant investments in e.g. platform company Meta, bank JP Morgan Chase, coffee chain Starbucks and technology company Microsoft, The Guardian tells.
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