The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has announced the issuance of the rules for practicing debt crowdfunding activities, which aim to regulate the provisions for licensing this type of company and to regulate its conduct of activities, in accordance with the powers granted to the Saudi Central Bank under the provisions of the Finance Companies Control Law.
The issuance of these rules comes as part of SAMA’s efforts to support the opportunities for growth and economic development in the Kingdom, in order to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 by supporting and organising modern financing activities. Including the activity of debt crowdfunding, and in line with the role of the central bank in promoting financial stability. The central bank seeks through these rules to achieve several goals: Including attracting a new segment of investors and companies, owners of small and medium capitals, to work under its supervision, in a manner that ensures the efficiency of these companies by adhering to the requirements of information security, corporate governance, internal regulation, attribution, risk and compliance management, and internal auditing, in addition to encouraging innovation in products.
The Central Bank indicated that the rules for practising debt crowdfunding activity have set the minimum paid-up capital for the facility wishing a license to five million Saudi riyals, with the authority of the Central Bank to raise or reduce the minimum capital according to market conditions. The draft rules for practising debt crowdfunding activity had been published earlier to collect public opinions and interested individuals, in order to enhance the principle of transparency and participation. All the essential observations and views received were taken into consideration before being finalised.
The Saudi Central Bank has also recently announced the issuance of the “Open Banking Policy”, which articulates the main objectives of implementing Open Banking in the Kingdom and its positive effects on the financial sector.
The issuance of this policy builds on the efforts of SAMA in diligently pursuing the strategic objectives of the Financial Sector Development Program, underscoring its commitment to promoting innovation, and trust within the sector, re-enforcing competition and raising efficiency. It is also aligned with the SAMA’s efforts to ensure the sector’s infrastructure readiness to enable the utilisation of the most prominent financial technologies, and ensure the application of leading supervisory practices for new and innovative technologies enabled financial services.
