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JEDDAH – The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has frozen the assets of an American insurance company accused of stealing about SR50 million from its clients.

The decision came after complaints lodged by the companys clients, who accused the company of taking money paid into insurance policies, a flagrant violation of rules governing insurance companies working in the Kingdom.

The companys general agent in the Kingdom attributed his employers financial moves to its intention to float shares for an initial public offering.

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JEDDAH – Saudi Arabian M3 money supply growth accelerated to 3.4 percent in June, the first time its pace has increased since September, the central bank said on its website on Tuesday.

M3 supply growth, which serves as an indicator of future inflation, quickened from 2.6 percent the previous month. It reached a record high of 26.2 percent in February 2008.

M1 money supply growth, a narrower measure that excludes longer term deposits and money market funds, accelerated to 21.2 percent from 17.8 percent in May, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said.

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JEDDAH – Authorities are looking into the activities of a number of companies following the discovery that they presented fake bank guarantees to secure contracts with the government.

The documents were reportedly only discovered to be false upon verification with the banks in question after the companies had begun work on public projects in several regions of the country.

Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance, has reinstructed ministries to “take the necessary precautionary measures” when dealing with bank guarantees and to contact bank central offices or the Saudi branches of foreign banks immediately upon the receipt of financial guarantees in order to obtain documented confirmation of their veracity and the sums involved.

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RIYADH: The release of a Saudi ship hijacked by Somali pirates is being delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles, local sources revealed on Saturday.

The ship, Al-Nisr Al-Saudi, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on March 1 with 13 Sri Lankan crew members and Greek Capt. Georgios Skalimis on board.

The bunker barge, owned by International Bunkering Company Ltd. (IBCO), was on its way from Japan to Jeddah when it was hijacked. The hijackers initially demanded a $20 million ransom. The ship is presently anchored on the Somali coast of Gada.

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RIYADH – Saudi Arabia is in the front ranks of countries combating money laundering and terror financing according to a report by the International Financial Action Group and the Middle East Financial Action Group, it was reported here today.?

The report placed Saudi Arabia first in the Arab world and among the top ten of G20 countries.?

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DAMMAM – The price of third-party car insurance for private cars has dropped by more than 20 percent in the past two days, from SR350 to SR275, and has led to overcrowding at offices of companies offering new premiums.

The reduction indicates that a price war is about to start among insurance companies, with intensive campaigns to market new cars through the hire-purchase system, which necessitates insuring the cars for up to five years, according to industry experts.

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Attractive array of events planned across the KingdomJEDDAH – With the onset of summer vacation in the Kingdom, several regions are getting ready to host summer festivals with the usual fanfare and an attractive array of events.

Many Saudi families have already boarded planes for their destinations abroad and those who have chosen to enjoy domestic tourism have shown their eagerness to visit the many exotic tourism spots in the Kingdom.

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JEDDAH – The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has launched an investigation into the hacking of Riyad Bank’s website Monday morning. SAMA has asked the bank to provide it with a detailed report on the incident.
An official source at SAMA confirmed that the agency will punish any bank which is lax in protecting its website against hackers. The bank’s homepage was penetrated by the hacker, who claimed he broke in to register a complaint against an official in Madina. The SAMA source said the hacker will be questioned by the security authorities before referring him to the judiciary. The courts will try him under cyber laws. The Shoura Council has introduced a set of laws to combat the growing threat of cyber crimes in the Kingdom.
The SAMA source played down the incident, pointing out that the hacker had no criminal motive. “He has more passion to be famous, rather than to belittle the bank’s officials or steal from customers’ accounts.” 
The bank’s management said the incident was not worrying because the hacker did not target the pages containing the bank’s transactions or customer accounts.
It stressed that the operation was controlled in less than two hours. It denied any negligence or shortcomings on its side.
It emphasized that the penetration took place on the external site which has nothing to do with customer accounts; and that the bank has advanced technology to secure its accounts.
The management said that other electronic safety systems prevented the hacker from breaking into the bank’s internal systems. The safety system also stopped him from accessing the bank’s financial data and customer accounts. It stressed that the administration dealt quickly with the situation.
The management claimed that its website was specifically hacked because it is a famous bank. It said that hackers have broken into other banks worldwide. – Okaz/SG

JEDDAH – SAMA, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, has ordered banks to introduce from July a new pin code system to improve Internet and telephone banking security.
The move hopes to curb the infiltration of private bank accounts and will require customers accessing accounts and transferring money via the Internet and telephone to complete a further step after entering their name and password to provide them with a new secret number by text message with every operation.
Saqr Al-Arabi of Information Security at SAMA said the measure, which has already been introduced in Europe and Singapor, will be obligatory for banks and will incur no extra costs for customers.
“The system uses ‘talkaning’ technology and gives the customer a new secret number through a text message or the Internet flash program and other technological means of contact with every banking operation,” Al-Arabi said.
Banks were informed of the move at the beginning of the year, giving them a six-month period of preparation, Al-Arabi said. “The service is to be offered free of charge, and each bank is left to choose its own appropriate security means,” he said. “It may be slightly inconvenient for bank customers, but it will help protect their money”. – Okaz/SG

RIYADH – Europes debt crisis will affect the global economic recovery but is unlikely to cause a double-dip slump as emerging economies are showing strong performance, state-run Saudi Press Agency late Thursday reported the Kingdoms central bank governor as saying.

“The European difficulties now will affect the recovery of the world economy, but I dont subscribe to the idea of a double-dip…as almost all of the emerging economies are doing very well, particularly in East Asia,” said Muhammad Al-Jasser, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), according to SPA.

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