The Saudi Arabian market in particular and GCC in general are one of the world’s fastest growing markets in the banking and capital markets sector. The region’s financial services sector is in the midst of a massive overhaul. With populations getting younger, better educated and more demanding; increasing diversity in financial products and services; and growing regulatory requirements for better monitoring of processes and developing secure financial systems, banks and financial institutions across the region are investing heavily to match or outstrip their international peers.
The banking sector captures the development of commercial bank markets and the ease of access to bank credit. The choice of variables also reflects the assumption that commercial banks that operate in competitive environments (with less direct government intervention, low market concentration, and where foreign banks are allowed entry) are likely to be more efficient. In many of the GCC countries, the banking sector is well developed, profitable, and efficient.
While the role of the financial sector in promoting growth may have been contested in the past, it is now widely recognized. The evidence is that a large and competitive banking sector, and liquid and active equity and debt markets, operating according to market principles and intermediating savings (domestic and foreign) for market-based investment, are strongly associated with higher growth rates. In addition, developed financial markets tend to promote efficiency in allocating investments, and hence contributing to the productivity growth by:
Identifying productive projects and efficient firms
Promoting corporate governance
Improving the management of risk
Mobilizing savings, and
Mitigating the adverse effects of financial shocks.
This trend is being helped by the readiness of most GCC over-the-counter markets with formal exchanges, which are independently and more rigorously regulated. A further boost has come from a new generation of investment bankers, who have opened a series of funds specializing in GCC markets.
How BMB&Co. can help you?
We provide audit, technical accounting, management consulting, Zakat and Tax, compliance, risk management, performance improvement, outsourcing (e.g. Corporate Finance), securities processing (e.g. Investment Funds back office accounting and operations), information risk and security, data quality, M&A and other services. In a nutshell, we offer a range of services and specific solutions to meet the most challenging issues banking and capital markets organizations face.
