Saudi Amends Requirements to Open Bank Accounts for Foreign Companies

Saudi Amends Requirements to Open Bank Accounts for Foreign Companies
TT
20

Saudi Amends Requirements to Open Bank Accounts for Foreign Companies

Saudi Amends Requirements to Open Bank Accounts for Foreign Companies

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has announced amending some articles on the requirements to open new bank accounts.

This step would facilitate the procedures for opening bank accounts and other activities.

SAMA required commercial banks to open accounts for e-commerce activities and expedite the process of related procedures.

It also canceled the need to have licenses necessary to open bank accounts for Kingdom-based foreign companies.

These amendments come in line with SAMA’s supervisory role in overseeing banks operating in the Kingdom.

The Authority stressed the importance of customer care services, adding that banks should provide these services with ease, including expediting the process of opening new bank accounts.

In a statement on Monday, SAMA said the new amendments coincided with introducing instructions within the rules of opening bank accounts, in which the time needed to open accounts was set.

It also amended the rule for opening bank accounts of Saudi-based companies by excluding the fulfillment of the necessary licenses to conduct business when opening such accounts.

The new amendments, which include a clause within rule 100 of the general instructions on opening bank accounts, will cancel the need for various licenses and will also set one working day to open bank accounts that don’t require approvals and two working days for ones that do.

The applicant should be officially notified of any additional papers or requirements immediately upon submitting the application.

Requirements from institutions that practice e-commerce activity and have no official headquarters were also amended to facilitate the procedures for those institutions to open bank accounts in the Kingdom.

These institutions’ bank accounts shall be opened in accordance with the requirements for licensed establishments and stores, making sure the account’s name is as written in the commercial register, and the purpose of opening the account (e-commerce) shall also be specified.



IMF Eyes Revised Global Forecast, but Warns Trade Tensions Still Cloud Outlook

A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.
A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.
TT
20

IMF Eyes Revised Global Forecast, but Warns Trade Tensions Still Cloud Outlook

A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.
A hazy view of the skyline in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.

The International Monetary Fund warned on Friday that risks related to trade tensions continue to cloud the global economic outlook and uncertainty remains high despite some increased trade and improved financial conditions.

IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said the fund would update its global forecast later in July given "front-loading ahead of tariff increases and some trade diversion," along with improved financial conditions and signs of continued declines in inflation.

In April the IMF slashed its growth forecasts for the United States, China and most countries, citing the impact of US tariffs on imports now at 100-year highs and warning that rising trade tensions would further slow growth.

At the time, it cut its forecast for global growth by 0.5 percentage points to 2.8% for 2025, and by 0.3 percentage points to 3%. Economists expect a slight upward revision when the IMF releases an updated forecast in late July.

According to Reuters, Gopinath told finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies who met this week in South Africa that trade tensions continued to complicate the economic outlook.

"While we will update our global forecast at the end of July, downside risks continue to dominate the outlook and uncertainty remains high," she said, in a text of her remarks.

She urged countries to resolve trade tensions and implement policy changes to address underlying domestic imbalances, including scaling back fiscal outlays and putting debt on a sustainable path.

Gopinath also underscored the need for monetary policy officials to carefully calibrate their decisions to specific circumstances in their countries, and stressed the need to protect central bank independence. This was a key theme in the G20 communique released by finance officials.

Gopinath said capital flows to emerging markets and developing economies remained sluggish, but resilient, in the face of increased policy uncertainty and market volatility. For many borrowers, financing conditions remained tight.

For countries with unsustainable debt, proactive moves were essential, Gopinath said, repeating the IMF's call for timely and efficient debt restructuring mechanisms.

More work was needed on that issue, including allowing middle-income countries to access the G20's Common Framework for Debt Restructuring, she said.