HSBC HSBC Holdings PLC

By Margot Patrick and Jenny Strasburg 

The heads of three major European banks, HSBC Holdings PLC, Credit Suisse Group AG and Standard Chartered PLC, pulled out of Saudi Arabia's Financial Investment Initiative conference Tuesday, putting the event scheduled for next week in Riyadh further in doubt.

The latest cancellations came after a public backlash against the kingdom over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who Turkish officials say was killed by Saudi agents in Istanbul earlier this month. Saudi Arabia has denied the accusation.

HSBC Chief Executive John Flint had been scheduled to speak and the bank was a strategic partner for the conference, which has been billed as a "Davos in the Desert" for the global business elite.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam was on the conference's advisory board, while Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters was also slotted as a speaker.

The three CEOs' cancellations follow withdrawals from the event this week by some of Wall Street's most powerful executives: JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO James Dimon, BlackRock Inc. CEO Laurence Fink and Blackstone Group chief Stephen Schwarzman.

All of the financial firms have substantial business with the kingdom, and attending has come to be seen as a loyalty test. Some banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. were still planning to send executives as of late Monday. Many of the banks with CEOs canceling their appearances are still sending delegations.

Conference organizers on Monday declined to comment on the cancellations and indicated the event would go forward as planned.

As of Monday night, Deutsche Bank AG executives were still discussing whether CEO Christian Sewing would attend the conference, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Sewing isn't scheduled as a speaker, but had tentative plans to represent the German bank in meetings with clients at the conference, the people said.

Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com and Jenny Strasburg at jenny.strasburg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2018 06:44 ET (10:44 GMT)

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