Saudi Arabia

The authors describe the landscape of banking in Saudi Arabia. The regulatory agency, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, does not seem likely to demand that all banking in the land be Islamic. This is a source of dispute in the country, for the Hanbali School of thought applied in the kingdom considers dealing with interest to be a sin. Nonetheless, banks in the kingdom do charge interest. Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation, which avoids interest, is an Islamic commercial bank operating in Saudi Arabia and mentioned by the authors. A number of questions facing Saudi banking, such as establishing special forums for banking disputes, are listed by the writers.