The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has today published a Report on the Saudi Arabia's Regulatory Consistency Assessment Program (RCAP), which covers both an assessment of the implementation of the Basel Capital Adequacy standards and the recently introduced Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR). SAMA Governor, His Excellency Dr. Fahad Almubarak, confirmed that SAMA had attained a Compliant ranking on the overall assessment of the implementation of the Basel Capital Adequacy requirements, which is the highest ranking to be attained under the assessment program.

For the Liquidity Coverage Ratio, Saudi Arabia was deemed 'largely compliant'. The banking sector maintains a very high liquidity position, which far exceeds the level of liquidity coverage ratio set by the Basel Committee.

Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20 and the Financial Stability Board, and the recognition of this outstanding achievement cited above; the very successful assessment made this year by the FSB through its Peer Review process; and Saudi Arabia's successful accession to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), initially as an observer, but later on as a full member in about two years, pave the way for further international recognition in the area of financial resiliency and successful adoption of the  best international practices in the banking and financial sectors.

SAMA has heavily invested in building and promoting the 'best of breed' supervision when it comes  to banking practices and services, and this long history of prudent and balanced application of international regulations and standards has really paid off, protecting the banking sector from financial risks in order to continue serving the national economy.