In the name of Allah The Merciful
Representatives of government
regulatory bodies, financial and commercial sectors.
Dear guests
On behalf of the Governor and all
colleagues at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the Saudi Credit
Bureau (SIMAH), I am pleased to
welcome you all to the workshop held on the sidelines of the meetings of the
international committees on the Global Legal Entity Identification System
hosted by the Kingdom during the past two days, which confirm the leading role and
Efforts of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the guidance of
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and his crown
prince Muhammad bin Salman.
In the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, regulators around the
world need to identify financial players in different markets, products and
regions. As a result, the G-20, at its summit in Cannes in November 2011,
called on the Financial Stability Board to take the lead in making
recommendations for a global legal entity identifier system and a supportive
governance structure.
The G-20 leaders subsequently endorsed the recommendations of the Financial
Stability Board in their summit in Los Cabos in 2012. Then, several committees
were formed to activate and operate the project through the participation of
representatives of regulators and control bodies on the financial sectors with
competence from different countries of the world, where they were assigned to
the task of regulation and control as well as the actual operation of issuing
identifiers for legal entities through licensing to the operators of local
units. Many of the regulatory authorities in different countries of the world
have produced the outputs of these committees. Binding and motivating legislation was issued
to all legal entities engaged in commercial and financial identity in
accordance with criteria adopted in that regard.
The legal
identifier project now covers most large companies around the world. The
project helps to increase the ability of regulators to enhance the integrity
and transparency of financial markets, improve risk management, and the quality
and accuracy of financial statements in relation to foreign trade finance,
balance of payments statistics, capital flows, clearing and financial
settlements, as well as many other benefits for the public and private sectors.
Dear Guests
The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by SAMA, supported these projects and
initiatives presented by the international committees through the participation
of its representatives in all those committees. Its recent accomplish was
adapting ‘Mu’arif” by the Regulatory committee subordinate to Simah in 2015. The
formalization of its connection with the central operating unit was officially
completed in 2017 to exercise its operational role by issuing digital coded
identifiers according to the international standards adopted for all legal
entities. Saudi entities which have
acquired Kayan Mu’arif reached 285 legal entities, including government entities
and companies. SAMA constantly works cooperatively with related regulatory and
control bodies to issue the needed tools for the application of Mu’arif project
in the Kingdom.
At
the end, I’d like to thank all guests and participants in the organizing of
this event, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa
region, wishing everyone success in achieving the goals for which it was held.