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  • Large Jump in May Oil Shipments to China Moves Russia Past Saudi Arabia
     

    Russia has leaped ahead of Saudi Arabia as the top oil supplier to China, according to Bloomberg, as the race to supply the world’s second-largest oil consumer heats up.  Bloomberg: “China imported a record 3.92 million metric tons from its northern neighbor in May, according to data emailed by the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs on Tuesday. […]

     
  • The State of Internet in MENA 2015: Growth in Full Throttle (But Beware of Bumps)
     

    It’s an exciting time for MENA’s online industry. While traditional industries’ investors are starting to worry  – due to low oil prices, a potential slowdown in construction and real-estate, and eroding margins in telecom and banking- online businesses continue to thrive, thanks to high demand and adoption of transactional services, as well as the transformation […]

     
  • Five trends that will shape the Arab World’s online industry in 2015
     

    2014 was a milestone year for online businesses in the Arab world. It was the year in which Arab online users spent more time behind their smartphone and computer screens than their televisions, online classified’s popularity soared over that of print classifieds, and several industries such as transportation, automotive, and food & beverage were disrupted […]

     
  • Cracking the Online Payments Puzzle in MENA
     

    Online payments have been at the center of electronic commerce challenges in the Middle East and North Africa since the first regional e-commerce sites came online. In many cases, they’ve kept both investors and founders worried about venturing into e-commerce businesses, and prevented many consumers from enjoying the benefits. Research shows that 47% of people […]

     
  • HRDF’s New Priority: Business Education Scholarships For Saudi’s Young Private Sector Leaders
     

    Since its inception in 2000, the primary mission of the Saudi Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) has been to provide job training and locate entry-level employment for young Saudis. But thanks to a new partnership with The Madinah Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship (MILE), HRDF now has another ambitious goal: to educate and support Saudi’s […]

     
  • Tourism in Saudi Arabia: How the SCTA Can Help the Saudi Economy
     

    In 2012, 1 billion tourists visited countries all over the world, and this movement led to the generation of more than $1.3 trillion for the global economy. More than half of tourists used air travel to reach their destinations. In 2010, the total contribution of tourism toward the global GDP reached $6.6 trillion (9.3% of […]

     
  • Royal Decree May Ease a ‘$67B Housing Logjam’ in Saudi Arabia, Reuters Reports
     

    Reuters is reporting that last week’s Royal Decree to tackle Saudi Arabia’s housing program has removed “an obstacle to a $67 billion program to ease the country’s housing shortage,” which “may push the program forward by opening up thousands of acres of state-owned land for construction.”

     
  • We’re here, can we come in? TASI and foreign investors
     

    The figurative lobby to the Tadawul All Shares Index (TASI), Saudi Arabia’s stock market, is filling up with eager investors.  Intrigued by the $387 billion Saudi stock market (three times the UAE bourses combined) and the $727 billion Saudi economy, many of them think… Brazil; whose fully accessible stock market’s capitalization exceeds $1 trillion. While […]

     
  • Top 10 Salaries In Saudi Arabia
     

    The 2013 Gulf Business Salary Survey suggests it is good to be a CEO or managing director in Saudi Arabia; especially if you are a banking professional.  The Survey also examines trends with regard to Arab, Western and Asian professionals and the impact of Nitaqat on small and medium sized companies.

     
  • Saudi Chartbook – February 2013
     

    Jadwa Investment’s recently released Saudi Chartbook for the month of February 2013 assesses a number of key aspects of the Saudi economy including the real economy, bank lending, banking indicators, inflation, trade, oil, exchange rates, the TASI (Saudi Stock Market), sectoral performance, and more. [The full report from Jadwa Investment can be read here.]

     

MUST-READS

  • Banque Saudi Fransi: Local banking done differently

    Established by royal decree in 1977, BSF was once an affiliate of Crédit Agricole CIB, one of France’s largest banks. Since that time it has become Saudi Arabia’s second-largest corporate bank and founded an extensive network that includes four primary offices (Riyadh [HQ], Jeddah, Al-Riyadh, and Al-Khobar), 84 branches, 563 ATMs, and over 3,000 employees.

  • Saudi banking sector gets off to a positive start in 2021, says KPMG

    “The banking sector in Saudi Arabia enjoys a strong base in the volume of liquidity and capital, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for homes has witnessed a continuous increase, and the demand for real estate financing has doubled,” said Ovais Shehab, head of the financial services sector in Saudi Arabia at KPMG.

  • Saudi Arabia generates $382.9m in investment banking fees

    Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, generated two-thirds of the investment banking fees in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) last year, accounting for $382.9 million and $433.9 million, respectively, despite the slowdown as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

  • Saudi Arabia’s open banking plans could ‘revolutionize’ opportunities for fintech

    “With the support of market participants, SAMA plans to go live with open banking during the first half of 2022,” the regulator announced earlier this week. The decision is set to present significant opportunities for fintech companies and Saudis themselves, locals and experts in the finance sector say. The central bank’s move “is set to revolutionize how customers, merchants and financial institutions augment the value they reap from accessing financial data,” Tala al Jabri, a Saudi national and venture capital investor based in Dubai, told CNBC. She expects it to “open up opportunities beyond financial inclusion by placing greater emphasis on Saudis to become more financially literate and in command of their finances.”

  • Saudi Central Bank issues Open Banking policy, aims to go live in 2022

    SAMA plans to go live with the open banking initiative in the first half of 2022. For the next 12 months, it will work on the design of Open Banking ecosystem and its implementation (which would also include testing with the financial ecosystem players).

  • Credit Suisse expands Saudi operations after securing banking license

    Credit Suisse said on Monday it had opened a branch in Riyadh to offer wealthy Saudi Arabian clients a greater range of financial services, after obtaining a local banking license in 2019. The bank, which has been offering investment banking, asset management and other services in Saudi Arabia since 2005, will now provide services such as lending, foreign exchange and treasury products, account management and deposits, it said in a statement.

  • KPMG leaders on Saudi’s Q3 banking sector performance

    Over the past months, house ownership levels in Saudi Arabia climbed well over 50%, “which was previously identified as a milestone point by the end of FY 2020 as part of the Vision 2030,” explained Al Sedais. “So in essence, the mortgage loan books across the banking sectors witnessed a period-on-period double-digit growth during the nine months ended September 30, 2020.”

  • Saudi Arabia Banking Pulse Suggests Subdued Profitability for Kingdom’s Banks

    Saudi Arabia’s top ten banks reported a marginal increase in deposits compared to the preceding quarter, which improved the banks’ funding position. In Q2, the loan to deposit ratio (LDR) increased slightly to 86.1%.

  • Samba Achieves First Saudi Arabian Banking License Launched in DIFC

    “DIFC’s legal and regulatory framework and infrastructure provides us with the ideal platform to grow, not just in the UAE, but across the region. Our presence reinforces Samba’s commitment to the UAE, is part of the Group’s strategic growth plans and will also allow us to enhance our client coverage in the region,” said Rania Nashar, Chief Executive Officer of Samba Financial Group.

  • M&A benefits the Saudi banking sector

    Last year two local banks (SABB and Alawwal bank) legally completed their historic merger. It was a transformational event for the Saudi banking sector as it created the third largest bank in the country with combined assets of SR257 billion ($68.5 billion) and more than one million retail customers. Recently the National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Samba bank also announced their entry into a framework agreement to begin a reciprocal due diligence process aimed at a potential merger. If the two banks agree on a final deal, it will create a bank with a combined equity of SR109 billion ($29.1 billion), total assets of SR802 billion ($213.9 billion), customer deposits of SR553 billion ($147.5 billion) and a loan portfolio size of SR453 billion ($120.8 billion).