Saudi regulator monitors Banque Saudi Fransi over governance issues

Saudi Arabia’s financial regulator said on Wednesday it is monitoring measures taken by the board of Banque Saudi Fransi to address “deficiencies” in governance.

The Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority (SAMA) said in a statement that it had “monitored this matter closely with the bank’s board of directors” and “will examine the adequacy and fairness of corrective measures taken by the board.”

SAMA said it was following the measures and decisions taken by Banque Saudi Fransi’s board to address “a number of deficiencies in the application of proper governance and monitoring policies and their applications.”

SAMA’s statement did not elaborate on the nature of the bank’s “deficiencies”. A SAMA spokesman declined to comment on the matter in response to a Reuters query.

The BSF board said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that it would appoint an independent team to investigate violations committed as a result of “excess powers granted to several employee incentive operations”.

This resulted in “payments which violated the approved policy of the incentive programme”, the bank said.