Our summary
This guide is the Saudi Central Bank’s main rulebook for fighting money laundering and terrorist financing in the financial sector. SAMA first issued it by circular in November 2019, and it is listed as in force in the SAMA Rulebook. It explains how firms should apply the Saudi AML Law and the Counter-Terrorism Financing Law, and their implementing regulations, using a risk-based approach that follows FATF standards. The guide says its requirements are mandatory and are only the minimum. Each firm must add more controls where its own risk assessment shows a need.
It applies to financial institutions in Saudi Arabia that SAMA licenses, and to their groups, branches and subsidiaries. The guide sets out duties for the board, senior management and staff. It then covers the full AML/CTF programme: ML/TF risk assessment (updated at least every two years), policies and internal controls (reviewed by senior management at least once a year), customer due diligence, enhanced checks for higher-risk customers such as politically exposed persons, simplified checks, record keeping, transaction monitoring and suspicious transaction reporting. Later sections deal with the compliance function, independent audit, staff training, hiring, correspondent banking and wire transfers. The same section also holds SAMA’s guides on applying UN Security Council sanctions on terrorism and on financing of weapons of mass destruction, including fast asset freezing and daily screening against the lists.
How auditors use it: Internal auditors can use the guide as the main checklist when they plan and carry out an AML/CTF audit at a Saudi bank or other SAMA-licensed firm. The guide expects an independent party to test the AML/CTF controls on a risk basis and to report the results to the board, so it sets the scope of that work. Auditors can test whether the risk assessment is up to date, whether due diligence and PEP files are complete, whether monitoring alerts and suspicious reports are handled well, whether training happens and is tested each year, and whether sanctions screening and freezing work in practice.