Company Insights Saudi Central Bank Banking & Finance Saudi Central Bank News Banking & Finance Saudi Central Bank grants first licence to a foreign insurer US healthcare giant Cigna is to become the first international insurer operating in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom seeks to increase foreign direct investment. Cigna has been granted a health insurer licence by the Saudi Central Bank (Sama), it revealed on Monday. Jason Sadler, president of international markets at Cigna, described the branch licence as […] February 7, 2023 Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia sees cashless payments up 25% in January Saudi Arabia saw the number of digital point-of-sale (Pos) transactions increase by nearly a quarter year-on-year during January, as the kingdom’s drive towards becoming a cashless economy takes hold. Figures from the Saudi Central Bank showed there were 598,861 transactions last month for both ATM cash withdrawals and credit card transactions at retail outlets and […] February 3, 2023 Analysis Banking & Finance Saudi takes fintech to ‘new level’ with Open Banking Lab The launch of a new Open Banking Lab in Saudi Arabia is set to take the fintech sector to a “new level” in the kingdom, according to industry experts. Saudi Central Bank, also known as Sama, is tracking the readiness of banks and fintechs with a view to launch open banking services by the end […] January 10, 2023 Banking & Finance Saudi central bank governor says monetary conditions ‘reassuring’ Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor said that the country’s monetary conditions are “reassuring” due to prudent monetary policy and that its banking sector enjoyed good liquidity. In a statement, Governor Fahad Almubarak said that the Saudi Central Bank would continue to manage foreign exchange reserves based on “balanced investment policies”. He noted that despite the […] December 8, 2022 Exclusive Banking & Finance Crypto giant Binance eyes UAE acquisitions and Saudi expansion Crypto exchange Binance is in talks with financial regulators in Saudi Arabia to expand into the kingdom. The company is also eyeing web3 tech investments in the UAE, and has appointed a fund manager based in Abu Dhabi. Binance, which is the world’s biggest crypto exchange, saw a 49 percent year-to-date increase in its Mena […] November 14, 2022 Analysis Economy Gulf rate hike: Good for gold and bonds, bad for credit Gulf companies have been able to absorb rising interest rates but as regional central banks follow the US Federal Reserve’s latest hike, borrowing appetite is likely to be subdued. It may, however, be good for gold, bank deposits and fixed income. Four of the Gulf states announced on Wednesday that they would increase their key […] November 3, 2022 Opinion Banking & Finance Islamic insurers face a turbulent year While growth prospects of Islamic insurers in the GCC remain favourable, weak profitability has been an issue for the sector November 2, 2022 Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia reports 195% rise in crypto trading The Middle East and North Africa region saw $566 billion in cryptocurrency trading between July 2021 and June 2022, a year-on-year increase of 48 percent, making it the fastest growing region in the world. The 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency report, by New York-based blockchain data platform Chainalysis, found that Saudi Arabia was one of the […] October 6, 2022 Analysis Banking & Finance Central banks go digital, bit by bit The turmoil in cryptocurrency markets this year has been a wake-up call to investors and regulators, prompting questions about how viable many digital currencies really are. According to CoinMarketCap, the total value of cryptocurrencies has slumped from almost $3 trillion in November 2021 to less than $1 trillion in September this year. But not all […] September 14, 2022 Economy Exports help Saudi non-oil sector hit 10-month high A sharp surge in exports in the second quarter of 2022 has helped business activity in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector rise to a ten-month high, boosting employment and sentiment for the year ahead. The General Authority for Statistics reported that exports increased by 85.1 percent year-on-year in Q2 to SAR 429.8 billion ($114.61 billion). Oil […] September 5, 2022 Posts navigation Previous 1 … 6 7 8 Next
Banking & Finance Saudi Central Bank grants first licence to a foreign insurer US healthcare giant Cigna is to become the first international insurer operating in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom seeks to increase foreign direct investment. Cigna has been granted a health insurer licence by the Saudi Central Bank (Sama), it revealed on Monday. Jason Sadler, president of international markets at Cigna, described the branch licence as […] February 7, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia sees cashless payments up 25% in January Saudi Arabia saw the number of digital point-of-sale (Pos) transactions increase by nearly a quarter year-on-year during January, as the kingdom’s drive towards becoming a cashless economy takes hold. Figures from the Saudi Central Bank showed there were 598,861 transactions last month for both ATM cash withdrawals and credit card transactions at retail outlets and […] February 3, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance Saudi takes fintech to ‘new level’ with Open Banking Lab The launch of a new Open Banking Lab in Saudi Arabia is set to take the fintech sector to a “new level” in the kingdom, according to industry experts. Saudi Central Bank, also known as Sama, is tracking the readiness of banks and fintechs with a view to launch open banking services by the end […] January 10, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi central bank governor says monetary conditions ‘reassuring’ Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor said that the country’s monetary conditions are “reassuring” due to prudent monetary policy and that its banking sector enjoyed good liquidity. In a statement, Governor Fahad Almubarak said that the Saudi Central Bank would continue to manage foreign exchange reserves based on “balanced investment policies”. He noted that despite the […] December 8, 2022
Exclusive Banking & Finance Crypto giant Binance eyes UAE acquisitions and Saudi expansion Crypto exchange Binance is in talks with financial regulators in Saudi Arabia to expand into the kingdom. The company is also eyeing web3 tech investments in the UAE, and has appointed a fund manager based in Abu Dhabi. Binance, which is the world’s biggest crypto exchange, saw a 49 percent year-to-date increase in its Mena […] November 14, 2022
Analysis Economy Gulf rate hike: Good for gold and bonds, bad for credit Gulf companies have been able to absorb rising interest rates but as regional central banks follow the US Federal Reserve’s latest hike, borrowing appetite is likely to be subdued. It may, however, be good for gold, bank deposits and fixed income. Four of the Gulf states announced on Wednesday that they would increase their key […] November 3, 2022
Opinion Banking & Finance Islamic insurers face a turbulent year While growth prospects of Islamic insurers in the GCC remain favourable, weak profitability has been an issue for the sector November 2, 2022
Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia reports 195% rise in crypto trading The Middle East and North Africa region saw $566 billion in cryptocurrency trading between July 2021 and June 2022, a year-on-year increase of 48 percent, making it the fastest growing region in the world. The 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency report, by New York-based blockchain data platform Chainalysis, found that Saudi Arabia was one of the […] October 6, 2022
Analysis Banking & Finance Central banks go digital, bit by bit The turmoil in cryptocurrency markets this year has been a wake-up call to investors and regulators, prompting questions about how viable many digital currencies really are. According to CoinMarketCap, the total value of cryptocurrencies has slumped from almost $3 trillion in November 2021 to less than $1 trillion in September this year. But not all […] September 14, 2022
Economy Exports help Saudi non-oil sector hit 10-month high A sharp surge in exports in the second quarter of 2022 has helped business activity in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector rise to a ten-month high, boosting employment and sentiment for the year ahead. The General Authority for Statistics reported that exports increased by 85.1 percent year-on-year in Q2 to SAR 429.8 billion ($114.61 billion). Oil […] September 5, 2022
