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I was recently asked to be a panelist at the 4th Middle East Leasing Summit held in Dubai and participated in a lively debate on the challenges and opportunities in the auto lease market around the region. From a Saudi perspective there are a number of factors which are unique to The Kingdom and these...

Introduction Following the introduction of the Finance Companies Regulations in 2012, the number of finance companies licensed and operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has grown from just 3 in 2013 to 34 in 2016. The Capital committed to the sector has increased from SAR 1.6 Billion to SAR 12.4 Billion a growth of...

SME’s are among the most vital agents in creating a steady growing economy. The kingdom’s vision 2030 is reassuring the importance of the SME’s role not only in contributing to the GDP but also in creating new job opportunities. Under the vision 2030 the Kingdom is launching a parallel equity market called Nomu (growth in...

In 2012 the activities of financing, leasing and installment business became regulated by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). This followed on from the regulation of the insurance companies in mid 2000s when the Law for Co-operative Insurance was passed to establish a fully regulated and supervised insurance industry within the Kingdom. As with the...

The introduction of the expat levy to push up the costs of doing business… On my recent trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia I took the opportunity to get some first hand feedback on how the economy is fairing in 1Q 2017. The graph below taken from the monthly Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)...

I was recently invited to be a panelist at the SME World Summit held in Dubai on the outlook for SME’s in the region. I specifically  chose to address the financial outlook  for SME’s and some the of the challenges they face in raising finance from banks in the current economic climate. Without doubt the environment for raising...