Wadira: Find your way through Saudi data & privacy law.
Home › Frameworks › Financial services › Saudi Central Bank Law
| Type | Law |
|---|---|
| Issuing authority | Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) |
| Framework | Financial services |
| Tier | Primary law: niẓām (Royal Decree M/…) |
| Legal status | In force |
| Instrument number | M/36 · Royal Decree |
| Issued | 2020-11-26 (11/4/1442H) |
| Last verified | 2026-10-20 |
The Saudi Central Bank Law is the constitutive statute of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), issued by Royal Decree M/36 (11/4/1442H, 26 November 2020), superseding the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority Law of 1377H. The Bank is a financially and administratively independent legal person reporting to the King, with three statutory objectives: maintaining monetary stability, supporting the stability of, and trust in, the financial sector, and supporting economic growth (Art. 3).
Article 4 grants the Bank its toolkit: issuing and regulating currency, supervising financial institutions and issuing regulations and directives to them, conducting monetary policy and managing foreign reserves, operating national payment, settlement and clearing infrastructure, licensing and supervising financial-technology platforms, and issuing consumer-protection directives. "Financial institution" is defined broadly as any person subject to the Bank's supervision.
Six chapters and 27 articles long, the Law is the foundation on which SAMA's supervisory rulebook rests, including its Cyber Security Framework, the Cyber Resilience Fundamental Requirements and its payments rules. Insurers are now supervised by the Insurance Authority.
Sector rules and the PDPL. Credit data and health data are sensitive data under the PDPL, so the registration trigger in draft Art 34 of the October 2026 amendments to the PDPL Implementing Regulation (IR) would capture most SAMA licensees. A PDPL-compliant transfer does not replace SAMA approval or no objection for offshore cloud or outsourcing. PDPL Arts 30(1) and 42 preserve SAMA's powers. Read with the PDPL, the IR, the Transfer Regulation and the October 2026 draft (comments close 5 November 2026).
Content and register data licensed CC BY 4.0. Cite the live URL. Machine-readable register (JSON) · Markdown register · Content last verified: 2026-10-21