Chapter Five Internal Organization
Article 28
A Consumer Microfinance Company must establish appropriate written organizational policies that includes work manuals and workflow procedures. Those policies must be kept up to date on a regular basis and they must be communicated to the concerned staff in a suitable and timely manner. The organizational policies must include rules for at least the following:
1. the organizational and operational structure, decision making and responsibilities;
2. credit granting and operations;
3. financial management and accounting;
4. marketing and sales;
5. information technology and security;
6. customer service and collection;
7. risk management, assessment, treatment, control and disclosure;
8. internal supervision system;
9. internal audit;
10. committing to the related laws, regulations and instructions;
11. outsourcing; and
12. salaries, bonuses and incentives, including the salaries of members of Senior Management and staff and their motivation and remuneration of the Board and its committees.
Article 29
It is prohibited in the Consumer Microfinance Company to combine an executive function such as financing or operation and oversight function such as internal audit or compliance tasks. A separation of functions must be adopted in a manner that ensures the application of the generally accepted policies, procedures, and technical standards, to protect the company’s assets and funds, and avoid fraud and embezzlement.
Article 30
1. A Consumer Microfinance Company’s technical equipment and related systems must be adequate according to industry standards for the company’s operational needs, nature of activity and risk situation.
2. Information technology systems and the related processes must be designed in a manner that ensures data integrity, availability, authenticity and confidentiality. Information technology systems and the related processes must be assessed on a regular basis in accordance to the generally accepted technical standards and tested before they are used for the first time and after any changes have been made.
3. A Consumer Microfinance Company must establish a business continuity plan for emergencies that includes alternative solutions to restore its operations within an appropriate time.
Article 31
A Consumer Microfinance Company shall have sufficient and qualified human resources in terms of knowledge and expertise to meet its operational needs, business activities and risk situation. The remuneration and incentives of staff must be fair, in line with its risk management strategy, and must not create a conflict of interest.
Article 32
1. At least 50% of all employees must be Saudi nationals when a Consumer Microfinance Company starts operations. The percentage applies to all departments and organizational levels.
2. The percentage of Saudi nationals of total human resources shall be annually increased by (5%) of all employees until (75%) has been reached. SAMA may determine the minimum required annual increase thereafter.
3. Recruitment of non-Saudis in the Consumer Microfinance Company shall be limited to jobs that require expertise not available in the Saudi labor market. In all cases, the Consumer Microfinance Company must obtain a non-objection letter from SAMA before appointing any non-Saudi employee in supervision departments provided that the company has proved the lack of Saudis for the vacant position.