For GCC states seeking to diversify their economies away from a reliance on hydrocarbon revenues, the development of a vibrant small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector is a strategic priority. Saudi Arabia shares this ambition, but holds an advantage over many of its neighbours in that SMEs already account for around 90% of the country’s...
The past year has been a positive one for the Kingdom’s banking sector. With asset growth and profitability continuing the upward trend that has buoyed the industry over recent years, the shifts brought about by the 2008-09 global financial crisis are beginning to pay dividends in the form of increasingly diverse revenue streams and a wider...
In overhauling their technological infrastructure and rolling out new tech-based services to their customers, Saudi Arabia’s banks have a strong platform to expand their operations. As participants in one of the most venerable financial sectors in the region, the country is served by a well-established technological framework that continues to...
In recent years Saudi Arabia’s banking sector has shown itself to be particularly adept at building retail loan books. Consumer lending in the Kingdom has followed a healthy upward trend since 2009, with research by local investment firm Aljazira Finance showing that the contribution of retail loans to aggregate sector lending rose from 22% in...
The new Insurance and Surety Institutions Law (Ley de Instituciones de Seguros y de Fianzas, LISF), together with amendments to the Insurance Contract Law, were first drafted back in 2008. From 2008 to 2011 the draft was discussed among key industry players and in October 2012 it was presented to the Mexican Congress. The law was approved in...
Enhancing Mexico’s traditionally low rate of insurance penetration has proved a challenge over the years. Indeed, the latest National Survey for Financial Inclusion (Encuesta Nacional de Inclusión Financiera, ENIF) conducted by the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission and the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, shows...
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