Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) hosted on Sunday, 17th of November 2019 the sixteenth meeting of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group for the Middle East and North Africa (RCG MENA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The RCG MENA is co-chaired by Dr. Ahmad AlKholifey, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority and Mr. Rasheed Mohammed Al-Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Members discussed financial stability issues and developments in the global economy. Dr. AlKholifey presented the priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the financial sector issues during the Saudi Arabia's presidency for the G20 in 2020, as well as financial stability and stablecoins' related challenges, vulnerabilities and regional financial stability issues. The discussion included vulnerabilities and regional financial stability issues, cyber incident response and recovery, Implementation of the G20 regulatory reforms in non-G20 jurisdictions and the appropriateness of implementing. The building of more flexible financial institutions and address new risks and threats by making markets safer were also discussed. Finally, the members exchanged views on enhancing the effectiveness of the Regional Consultative Groups with members' agreement on the recommendations.
In 2011, six regional consultative groups of the FSB were established responding to the call of the G20 Leaders at the Toronto Summit (June 2010), to bring together financial authorities from FSB member and non member countries to exchange views on vulnerabilities affecting financial systems and on initiatives to promote financial stability.
The FSB's priorities are to promote the full implementation of agreed financial sector regulatory reforms, develop and implement regulatory and supervisory policies that serve financial stability, strengthen financial systems and finalize post-crisis reforms.
The current membership of the RCG MENA includes financial and regulatory authorities from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
