The second area of improvement is on other Pillar 2 risks including interest rate, liquidity, FX, strategic, technology and reputation. All banks have developed methodologies to identify, quantify, manage and allocate capital to such risks. These were risks for which no capital was required earlier. A third area is stress testing where Saudi banks have made good progress. This allows them to know their risk tolerance and resilience in times of stress. Finally, the introduction of Pillar 3 has strengthened the disclosure of Saudi banks to high international standards. This brings me to an important natural question. What does Basel III mean for Saudi banking system? Well let me assure you that our preliminary analysis is that the transition to Basel III in the Basel agreed time frames should be smooth. Saudi banks already maintain a high level of core common equity capital. The average following the introduction of Basel III has been about 17%, of which around 85% is core common equity. Similarly Saudi Banks maintain a high level of liquidity which has averaged over 30% over the past two decades. SAMA already requires banks to keep conservation buffers above the minimum and has  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  introduced stringent stress testing requirements. Banks are making good progress in all areas. SAMA has already started the Basel III implementation process by publishing its plans, introducing relevant prudential returns and providing guidance to banks.
Monetary Policy From End To End: Define, Decide, Deliver Speech given by Dave Ramsden, Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking  The Strand Group Lecture Series King’s College London 20 November 2017  I’d like to thank Grellan McGrath for his assistance in preparing this speech, and colleagues around the Bank for their useful comments 1  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  End to End Monetary Policy  This is my first speech in my new role as Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking, and as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). It is a pleasure to be giving it in the newest part of King’s College London th  and in my position as a visiting professor here at King’s. And I’m delighted it’s the 25 Strand Group event, showing how this flagship series of policy relevant events has already become well established. One of the key differences between my old and my new role is the level of accountability. As Chief Economic Advisor to HM Treasury for the past 10 years, as would be expected under the civil service code, I was generally responsible for giving evidence-based advice to ministers who were ultimately accountable for their decisions to parliament and the public. That is very different in my new role in which I am directly accountable to parliament and public for decisions taken as a member of the MPC, Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and Prudential Regulation Committee (PRC).