The Saudi Arabian Monitory Agency (SAMA) has had 18 applications to set up new banks awaiting its approval or rejection for several years, according to Abdul Rahman Al-Haidar, a fiscal and economics consultant. Al-Haidar said that the SAMA still harbored reservations toward new banks and that the agency was planning to convince small banks partners to merge and form larger blocks. SAMA approved foreign banks opening branches in the Kingdom and the latest bylaw governing the establishment of new banks, believing the new system, Al-Haidar said, to be a better solution than opening new banks. Al-Haidar added that SAMA was placing strict control on banks in accordance with the Kingdom's fiscal strategy, and that it is exerting wide authority in this regard.
