Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Research Articles

Do Publicly Listed Insurance Firms in Saudi Arabia Have Strong Corporate Governance?

Saudi Arabia has now opened its markets to foreign investors in line with its strategy to diversify its economy. However, investors need to feel confident that Saudi enterprises are being monitored and regulated appropriately. This study identifies the impact of improvements in Saudi corporate governance practices among insurance firms. The effects of corporate governance on the financial performance of 35 insurance firms listed on the Saudi stock market are examined from 2008 to 2014, including Shariah-compliant and life insurance firms. Four different methodologies are used: the generalised least squares random effect, fixed effect models, a difference-in-differences (DID) measurement for comparisons, and the probit model with average marginal effect to address endogeneity. The results indicate that firm performance is affected by information asymmetry. The 2009 exogenous shock from the Saudi regulatory change to board composition and audit committee size shows a positive effect on performance in the DID comparison. However, an increase in independent board and audit committee members has a significant negative effect. Other findings indicate that an increase in CEO (Chief Executive Officer) age has a positive effect on performance, as do three pay variables (director incentives, CEO and top executive pay, and above-the-mean director incentives). However, when CEO and top executive pay increases above the mean, the effect turns negative; this also happens with a change in CEO from poor performance. The results support the importance of Saudi insurance industry corporate governance regulation and reflect the improved governance perspectives of the Saudi Capital Market Authority and Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.

Degradation of oil and hydrocarbons derivatives by isolated yeast strains from Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia heavily depends on oil production, as 33.42 % of GDP is generated from the oil sector (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, 2019). Due to previous fact, microorganism considers the main concern for oil biodegradation process. As a result of highly advantage of employed yeast for oil biodegradation than bacteria, this study was carried out to isolate crude oil biodegrading yeast from sediments from three points of Ras Tanura City (26°38′38″N and 50°9′33″E), eastern province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Among nine yeast isolates, only three isolates selected due to remarked biodegrading activities. Based on 18S rRNA Partial gene sequence, A, B and C yeast isolates were identified and submitted as Rhodotorula ingeniosa (OL659287), Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (OL659288) and Candida parapsilosis (OL659289) with 100 % identity respectively. A isolate was superior for oil consumption (8.2 %) comparing with B and C isolates which showed 6.4 % and 5.5 % respectively. Also, A isolate reflected highest hydrocarbons derivatives consumption comparing with C isolates which showed lowest hydrocarbons derivatives consumption %. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and SDS-PAGE techniques were employed to evaluate genetic similarity which led to explain molecular base for varied biodegradation activity for A, B and C isolates. Interestingly, A isolate which remarked with superior biodegrading activity reflected highest genetic polymorphism. On the other hand, highly genetic similarity was corresponded to decreasing degrading activity for isolate C. positive correlation was detected between genetic polymorphism and biodegrading capability for yeast isolate.

The impact of the Corona pandemic on the Saudi banking sector, a study applied to Saudi banks: أثر جائحة كورونا على القطاع المصرفي السعودي: دراسة مطبقة على البنوك السعودية

The global health crisis resulting from spread of new Corona epidemic, with regard to the banking sector across the world, showed that the mandatory quarantine period imposed by most countries around the world constituted an increasing pressure of risks on banking activity, especially banks active in loans to companies after many forced Institutions around the world to stop productive or industrial activity, and thus the crisis revealed that bank loans during this health crisis were not equal between one sector and another. From this standpoint came the idea of ​​the research, and the researcher relied on the descriptive approach in its theoretical side in order to gain familiarity with the various aspects of the study, and the analytical method for the financial statements of Saudi banks during the nine months and the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to now during the nine months and the fourth quarter of 2019. The study concluded some results and recommendations, including: Increasing demand for loans granted by banks to the corporate sector, in order to control the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, and also the profits of most of the Saudi banks that compose the study sample decreased, except for (Al- Ahly Commercial, Al- Rajhi Bank and Saudi Investment Bank) and their net income from The different operations are clearly in the nine months of the year 2020 compared to the nine months of last year, and the provision for credit losses for most banks in the study sample also increased due to the repercussions of the Corona pandemic on the global economy in general in 2020, on the Saudi economy as a whole, and on the Saudi banking sector In particular. Work must also be made to develop legislation, legal and regulatory frameworks from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, which work to ensure that banks benefit from the rescue packages and support measures taken by the institution to support the Saudi banking sector, and work to take into account the proposals of the Basel Committee in terms of overcoming the negative effects of banking risks, Especially in this crisis and the rapid spread of the virus, in an effort to maintain financial stability.

HR Knowledge Disclosure by Leading Banks: Cases from KSA

The backbone of any economy relies on the performance of its banking industry. Besides financial capital, human resources (HR) capital plays a significant role in the sustainability of this industry. For the existence and effectiveness, the financial sector makes extensive use of human capital (Kamath, 2007). Like financial reports, human capital reporting indicates the health of any organisation. The stakeholders, around the globe, recently started showing keen interest in monitoring the effectiveness of HR. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), holding 27% of the GCC total banking assets (FitzHerbert, 2020), is no exception to disclosing HRrelated information in the annual reports of its banks. The banking regulatory system of KSA is almost at par with the international standards laid down concerning banking supervision. KSA's banking industry is unique as it is considered to be the leader of the Islamic world where all banks must adhere to the Sharia banking law (Kamali, 2000). The regulatory authority of the KSA banking industry, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), annually reported its HR information related to training and development, employee fairness, incentives, diversity and inclusion of female employees and people with determination. By setting an example, SAMA encourages commercial banks to follow good practices to disclose HR information in their annual reports. Though not enforced by the regulatory authority, the KSA banks recently started to disclose HR information in their annual reports. Keywords: Human resources, disclosure, HR information, Saudi Banks

Using the Islamic Financial Engineering in Design and Innovation a Government Sukuk of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) for Liquidity Management

This research reviews one of the applications of financial engineering and its use in designing and innovating a financial instrument that are compatible with the provisions of Islamic Sharia, that enables the SAMA to regulate the liquidity levels in the market as an alternative to the cconventional financial instruments (treasury bills and bonds), and completion of the tools that enable it to play his role in his relationship with Islamic banks. This tool is represented in Islamic governmental checks that can be used as a tool in open market operations to control the inflation within the framework of an Islamic monetary policy. After completing the application aspect, the research revealed many results, and in the light of these results, the recommendations have also been put to serve the SAMA, and help it in liquidity management using the proposed types of governmental checks (sharing checks of SAMA, hiring checks of SAMA, Salam Checks of SAMA) Within the framework of the open market policy applied in the Saudi money market, and the gradual transformation of this market from a traditional market to a market that operates according to the provisions of Islamic Sharia.

Oil Prices and Terms of Trade of Saudi Arabia: An Empirical Analysis

Terms of trade is an important indicator of the welfare gains from international trade to the exporting country. Terms of trade of oil-exporting countries are hypothesized to depend primarily on oil prices. The study assesses the relation between oil prices and the terms of trade of Saudi Arabia. The study uses the Autoregressive Distributed Lag method to determine the cointegration between the country's terms of trade and oil prices for the period 2000-2018. The data for net barter terms of trade is taken from World Development Indicators and oil price is taken from Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. The results show that oil prices and terms of trade are cointegrated and any disequilibrium between the two variables is corrected by 35% in a year. The study also reports a positive relationship between the two items, both in the short run and long run. Diagnostic tests indicate the model to be fit. The results suggest that, for a primarily oil-producing country like Saudi Arabia, the terms of trade depend on oil prices. The study fills the gap in the literature on the study of terms of trade for Saudi Arabia for the last few years, where there has been a high volatility in oil prices.

Sustainable Water Management in Saudi Arabia

This study determined the sustainable management in Saudi Arabia. More specifically, the concerns of this study were: resources, safety, environment, strategies, practices, barriers/challenges, and problems associated with its implementation. The descriptive research method was employed and observation as a technique of collective information. The articles were collected using Google scholar and peer-reviewed research articles. It involves reading wide on a specialized field, analyzing and synthesizing main ideas, and developing new insights from the researcher. The study is an exploratory research design and analysis style to gather data relating to sustainable management in Saudi Arabia. Findings obtained are as follows: (1) Water resources, the findings revealed that there is an “increase within the utilization of nontraditional of freshwater and wastewater” and “replenish the groundwater and ecological use.” The findings more unconcealed that in Saudi Arabia there is an “adequate supplies available for food and energy production.” (2) Water Safety, the findings disclosed that they “have access to safe, spare, and reasonable to fulfill basic wants for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene, to safeguard health and well-being.” (3) Water Safety, the findings disclosed that they “have access to safe, spare, and reasonable to fulfill basic wants for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene, to safeguard health and well-being.” (4) Strategies, the findings discovered within the study that, “their area unit innovative methods which will facilitate communities conserve and upgrade their existing infrastructure, “developing new technology, gathering, desalinization, and treatment,” and “encouraging investment in and enlarged collaboration on management technologies,” and “generating higher policies through dialogue, information exchange, and communication.” (5) Practices, the findings disclosed that there have been “unsustainable adaptation practices, continued to exploit groundwater or increase the application of untreated sewer water.” Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency more than the eightieth percent of total demands falls on the consumption practices within the agricultural sector, which uses an outsized proportion of nonrenewable groundwater; and (6) Barriers/Problems and Challenges, the findings revealed that “water scarcity is not solely a problem of accessibility, but the quality of accessible water. The water shortage, poor sanitation, and poor hygiene” however, the challenges faced are: a) Depleted understanding of policy instruments in management will affect the economy and growth; b) Restricted application of a holistic approach in policymaking, multi-sector involvement and low coordination of roles and responsibilities; and c) Off cooperation, joint analysis actions, and data sharing. Based on the findings, the following conclusions are derived: (1) The climate change is contributing to scarceness not solely through accumulated temperatures and prolonged drought periods that place a strain on demand, and existing resources however additionally through the degradation of resources through extreme precipitation events that carry pathogens and alternative contaminants into waterways via runoff and flooding, and (2) Protecting human health in the face of climate change and scarcity will be largely dependent on the resources available to communities to conserve and provide access to safe drinking and adequate sanitation. Based on the foregoing findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are offered: (1) Create an environment which enables Saudi Arabia to work toward ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’ through a holistic approach; (2) Continuously monitoring quality and responding early to what can become highly damaging and costly problems; (3) Reuse-recycling of waste material and industrial waste; and (4) Academia and other community leaders should play a leading role in increasing community awareness of sustainability.

The Impact of Economic Growth on Unemployment Case study: The King of Saudi Arabia during the period 1980- 2018: أثر النمو الاقتصادي على البطالة- دراسة حالة المملكة العربية السعودية خلال الفترة: 1980- 2018م

The study seeks to analyze and measure the relationship between rates of unemployment and economic growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period 1980- 2018 and stand on the economic measures by the authorities to address the negative effects of high unemployment rates using the correlation matrix, Granger causality test, the methodology of the Co- integration test, error correction model and Okun model. The study found that there is strong relationship between economic growth and the unemployment rate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the study period. The study depends on the data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)، the World Bank and other resources. One of the most important hypotheses of the study there is statistically significant relationship between economic growth and unemployment. The study recommended several recommendations one of them is: develop new economic policies to reduce dependence on oil as a primary source of revenue reducing inflation and working to increase investments, which leads to an increase in the size of the labor market.

Optimal policies for managing oil revenue stabilization funds: An illustration using Saudi Arabia

We develop an analytical approach that offers insights into how governments can better manage an oil-revenue stabilization fund. The model maximizes the expected intertemporal utility of households and consists of decisions that are a function of the fund level and oil revenue. We apply our approach to Saudi data, noting that the government deposits and reserve at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency have historically served as a buffer to decouple the Saudi government budget from oil revenue fluctuations. Results from our model match intuition: the larger the fund, the smaller the additions during periods of high revenues and the bigger the withdrawals during periods of low revenues. We also show that the fund can be partitioned into tranches with different asset durations rather than being solely invested in short-term assets. Our results indicate that the boundary between an oil-revenue stabilization fund and a sovereign wealth fund is not a bright line.

Obstacles and Problems Facing the Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises in KSA

The current study dealt with the obstacles and problems facing SMEs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study followed the descriptive analytical approach and found that there are multiple problems facing these institutions, the most important of which are the lack of funding, availability and capacity of employees, weak demand, government regulations and regulations in addition to some obstacles represented in fees. Labor and workers system recruitment, Competition, employment of Saudis, issuance or renewal of licenses, bureaucracy, and government measures. One of the most important findings of this study is the possibility of developing this sector in the presence of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, which relied on the division of institutions into three types (micro, small and medium) according to labor standards and revenue size. Through these results, the study recommends that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia) should have an encouraging policy for financing SMEs with a unified definition and a specific percentage of financing ceilings to be financed, with a legal and legislative basis and a mechanism for the development of SMEs. And to consider the establishment of banks specialized in the financing of these institutions to play their role in accordance with the Kingdom's vision 2030.

The relationship between manufacturing production and economic growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the long-term relationship between the performance of the manufacturing sector and economic growth in Saudi Arabia. It does so by testing Kaldor–Verdoorn and Thirlwall’s laws.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used data for the period 1980–2014 from databases of the World Bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the Penn World Table (PWT8) and the five-year plan of the Ministry of Planning and National Economy of Saudi Arabia. The authors used the bound test for the cointegration approach, which allowed them to test the two hypotheses in the long run, after examining the stability of the time series and ensuring the rank of its stability.FindingsThe results that emerged from the analysis show that Kaldor’s law is applicable to the data on the KSA, but with decreasing returns to scale, with coefficient equal 0.83. Verdoorn’s law is also applicable at both macro and sectoral levels with elasticity coefficient equal to 0.81 and 0.616, respectively, also with decreasing returns to scale. For Thirlwall’s model, the results show that the relationship was reverse, contrary to what expected, with a significant elasticity coefficient of 0.599.Social implicationsThis study recommends that policy makers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia focus on the industrial sector because of its impact on productivity, social returns and other sectors of the economy.Originality/valueOne of the important aspects of this paper is that it tests both Kaldor–Verdoorn’s and Thirlwall’s laws in the case of countries that depend on oil exports for growth and where the contribution of industrial output to GDP, in Saudi Arabia, is relatively low, at about 13 percent, across the period 1970–2013, and about 16.8 percent between 2000 and 2013 (see Figure 1). Since there have been few studies on this subject, the authors used data from Saudi Arabia to provide evidence of the importance of diversifying the economy by increasing the contribution of manufacturing to GDP to ensure increased productivity and to promote economic growth.

Bank’s financial stability and risk management

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effect of Saudi bank’s financial stability on risk management.Design/methodology/approachDifferent ordinary least square models have been used to study the significant effect of banks’ financial stability indicators on different types of risks in Saudi banks. Financial statements were collected of all Saudi banks (12 banks) from 2011 to 2014 from TADAWL website.FindingsThe results indicate a negative and significant effect of capital adequacy ratio on credit risk. Also, there is a significant and positive effect of leverage ratio on credit risk. Moreover, the results indicate negative and significant effect of provisions, leverage, ratio of loans to deposits and bank size on liquidity risk. Finally, results indicate a positive and significant effect of capital adequacy, provisions, leverage and asset utilization ratio on operational risk and indicate a negative and significant effect of loan-to-deposits ratio on operational risk. A robustness check was used to confirm the results. No differences between small and large Saudi banks was found. All banks are committed to apply Basel accord and Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) regulations. But there is a significant difference in applying SAMA toolkits regulations between 2011 and 2014. The 2014 results reflect very high degree of financial stability in Saudi banks when compared with that of 2011, also greater ability to mitigate risk exposure using different types of macroprudential toolkits stated by SAMA.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to Saudi Banks from 2011 to 2014.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to use the macroprudential toolkits, suggested by SAMA as financial stability measurements, to examine their effect on different types of risks in Saudi banks. SAMA suggested this group of toolkits to comply with Basel III new regulations and to minimize the degree of risk exposure of Saudi banks.

Corporate Governance and Board of Directors Responsibilities: The Case of Saudi Arabia

Compliance with rules and regulations is very critical and important issue when organizations are infusing a culture of honesty and integrity in business. Commitment of board of directors and willing of top management and employees to strength corporate governance facilities the role of compliance officers. Failure to adhere to compliance function will increase operational risk and hence impacting interests of stakeholders. Corporate governance is a cornerstone in improving economic efficiency and growth in order to attract investors and gain their confidence. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) which is the central bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Capital Market Authority is thriving continuously to strength corporate governance rules for banks and financial institutions. One of the circulars for banks and financial institutions is the requirements for appointments of senior positions in financial organizations with the objective of appointing persons who possess integrity, honesty, and good reputation. In addition, SAMA issued several guidelines for anti-money laundering, rules for countering fraud and a code of professional ethics of staff. Recently, banks are required to form compliance unit to make sure banks prepare their financials according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The aim of this research is to highlight a case of corporate governance and board responsibilities in one of the financial institutions in Saudi Arabia. The case will be presented to show the mechanism followed by the financial institution and whether it is complied with rules and if not what corrective actions are done in order to strength corporate governance principles.

The Dichotomy Between the Saudi Women's Education and Economic Participation

This paper examines three key aspects of the Saudi labor market concerning the education of Saudi women and their participation in the economic activities of the country. The first aspect examined is the current condition of human capital development in Saudi Arabia as it applies to Saudi Women. The second aspect discussed is the status of Saudi females' labor participation rate in relation to their education level. The third aspect concerns changes in females' labor participation rate compared to the targets set in the Ministry of Economy and Planning's eighth and ninth five-year development plans. This is a theoretical study conducted using data provided by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education, the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and the Saudi Central Department of Statistics and Information. The paper demonstrates that more and more Saudi females are enrolling and graduating from colleges and universities than the amount of jobs available for them. About 68 percent of Saudi women with a post-secondary degree were unemployed in 2015 and excluded from productive activities. Such a dichotomy between females' education level and the rate of their economic participation is challenging for the Saudi Ministry of Labor. The latter has instituted several women-oriented labor laws aimed at promoting female employment. However, as of 2015, the Saudi female unemployment rate remained high at 33.8 percent and their labor participation rate low at 17.3 percent. Saudi females' labor force participation rate missed its expected target by 64.1 percent during the eighth DP while exceeding target by 168.1 percent during the ninth DP, increasing to 17.6 percent at the end of 2014. Unfortunately, this increase was accompanied by a rise in the unemployment rate. The findings of this study indicate that the Saudi Ministry of Labor still has more to do, policy wise, if more Saudi women are to become active participants of the labor market and the economy. The Saudi Ministry of Labor must make an effort to curb the unemployment of educated Saudi Women by putting in place policies that make more positions available for them when they graduate from College.

A Comparative Study of the Saudi Insurance Legal Environment with the International Insurance Environment: An Empirical Study

This paper will provide an overview of the insurance industry in Saudi Arabia and the regulatory instruments that operate under the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), with a brief on the situations of the licensed insurance companies in the Kingdom. The current paper will also provide information and data on the Saudi insurance market growth rate and financial performance. Importantly, this paper compares the Saudi insurance regulatory laws and directives with the international insurance one and takaful standards and policies with participants’ perceptions. No studies have been conducted to systematically compare SAMA's regulations and standards for insurance with an international one. Such comparisons provide an efficient framework for better protections for policyholders. This paper attempts to fill the gap. Distributing survey questioners among takaful participants is another vital approach for this paper. The paper reports results on the perceptions of 420 participants of takaful companies in Saudi Arabia. They were asked in away to figure out if the current directives imposed by SAMA have enough protections towards participants. Protections might occur by enhancing participants' knowledge, perceptions and satisfaction through obligatory disclosure rules of the TOs ( takaful operators). A conclusion can be made that SAMA, does not have any directives and laws towards the takaful business, nor does it issue directives that address any Shari’ah concerns. Accordingly, it is highly recommended that SAMA assigns separate directive laws that address the takaful insurance, and the principles of the Shari’ah laws. It is also recommended that SAMA enhances their employees’ knowledge about the principles and products of the takaful model. SAMA should also rely on the already-established standards as per AAOIFI, IFSB and similar standards as per IAIS to regulate the takaful insurance in Saudi Arabia

An Analysis of Saudi Bankss Compliance with Basel III

Basel III places stricter norms for the banks in terms of capital adequacy and risk management in order to overcome any type of financial crisis. The reforms include changes at the macro level and at the individual bank level. The complete implementation of the full set of reforms has been scheduled to 2019. However, the banks need to comply with and make arrangements to comply with the new standards. The banking system in Saudi Arabia, monitored by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, has been actively trying to enforce the reforms as per the agreed timelines. So far, the agency has introduced the leverage, liquidity and capital adequacy ratios. This paper mainly focuses on the extent of compliance of the banks in Saudi Arabia in light of the reforms introduced by Basel and as planned by SAMA. A sample of banks will be studied in detail for their compliance with the new norms. The results will be of significance to the banks as well as the regulator to assess the current state of compliance. Further the banks in other countries of the region will also benefit from the findings of the study.

Modern and Traditional Methods for Measuring Money Supply: The Case of Saudi Arabia

This paper compares the “simple-sum” monetary aggregates (M1 and M2) published by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) with the new monetary aggregates (D1 and D2)—known as the Divisia monetary indexes. The former aggregates are constructed from a simple accounting identity, whereas the Divisia aggregates are constructed using statistical index number theory and aggregation theory. The findings suggest that both D1 and M1 are identical, given the perfect substitutability of the monetary components within those aggregates. For the broader monetary aggregates where perfect substitutability assumption is not realistic, the two monetary indexes differ substantially. SAMA could benefit by using both monetary indexes simultaneously to better monitor liquidity in the market.

An Intelligent Paper Currency Recognition System

Abstract Paper currency recognition (PCR) is an important area of pattern recognition. A system for the recognition of paper currency is one kind of intelligent system which is a very important need of the current automation systems in the modern world of today. It has various potential applications including electronic banking, currency monitoring systems, money exchange machines, etc. This paper proposes an automatic paper currency recognition system for paper currency. A method of recognizing paper currencies has been introduced. This is based on interesting features and correlation between images. It uses Radial Basis Function Network for classification. The method uses the case of Saudi Arabian paper currency as a model. The method is quite reasonable in terms of accuracy. The system deals with 110 images, 10 of which are tilted with an angle less than 15o. The rest of the currency images consist of mixed including noisy and normal images 50 each. It uses fourth series (1984–2007) of currency issued by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) as a model currency under consideration. The system produces accuracy of recognition as 95.37%, 91.65%, and 87.5%, for the Normal Non-Tilted Images, Noisy Non-Tilted Images, and Tilted Images respectively. The overall Average Recognition Rate for the data of 110 images is computed as 91.51%. The proposed algorithm is fully automatic and requires no human intervention. The proposed technique produces quite satisfactory results in terms of recognition and efficiency.

The Gulf Urbanisation

Keywords: Dubai; United Arab Emirates (UAE); Gulf region; Kuwait; Genesis; Saba George Shiber; The Kuwait Urbanization; Gulf Cooperation Council; Bahrain; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Middle East; Doha; Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA); Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute; Lusail City; Cityscape Global real-estate investment trade show; Lawrence Potter; India; East Africa; Southeast Asia; China; Indian Ocean; Jebel Ali; Khalifa Port; Kizad zone; Creative Kingdom/DSA Architects International; Madinat Jumeirah; Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA); Global Village; Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University Health Sciences Campus; Perkins+Will; Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners); Education City; Saadiyat Cultural District; Louvre Abu Dhabi; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; Sharjah; The GCC in 2020: Resources for the Future; Masdar Institute; HOK; King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST); Thuwal

An Analysis of the Insurance Industry Regulator in Saudi Arabia and Jordan through the Comparison with Insurance Industry Regulator in the UK

Since the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) supervise and legalize the Saudi insurance sector, and as the Jordanian Insurance Commission (IC), which is an administratively and financially independent organization, regulates the local insurance sector; the purpose of this research is to critically examine the structure and functioning of insurance regulator in Saudi Arabia and Jordan through comparisons with the regulatory structure in UK. This is as an attempt to fill the lack of research in this vital area in order to arrive at constructive suggestions that could enhance the quality of insurance regulation in both countries. Indeed, this paper found that the insurance sector in Saudi Arabia and Jordan lags behind most of the other developing economies in Asia and Europe. Also, full implementation of the insurance regulatory Information System (IS) and publication of a clear regulatory ladder could support the taking of early and consistent intervention action on insurance companies.