I would like to present a briefing on accomplishments achieved during the last year, the most important of which were: The Kingdom achieved tangible progress in its AML procedures, in the framework of the follow-up process that followed the Mutual Assessment Process. The Kingdom submitted the First Follow-up Report to the MENAFATF in February 2012. The report includes the new and updated legislations issued and the actions taken to cope with the implementation of all international standards and practices issued recently. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  The Kingdom amended the Anti-Money Laundering Law issued by Royal Decree No. (M/31) dated 11/5/1433H to cover many domestic and international requirements and developments. Its Implementing Regulation was updated as well. Here, I would like to highlight that the national AML legislation was finalized in line with international developments and standards. The Kingdom hosted a number of conferences, symposiums and training courses on combating money laundering. The most important of which was the Fifteenth MENA-FATF General Meeting held in April 2012 in Jeddah. In September 2012, the Investigation and Public Prosecution Authority, in cooperation with MENA-FATF, also hosted a symposium on “the Role and Responsibility of Public Prosecution Agencies and Judicial Organs in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing”. In September 2012, SAMA, in collaboration with the Secretariat General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, organized a workshop on Updating FATF Recommendations to Combat Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Weapons Proliferation.

Clarity and enforceability of the fiscal framework should also be enhanced. 3. The need for structural reforms  Turning to the aim of a higher long-term sustainable growth rate in the euro area more generally which, as I said, should be our major strategic goal, what we need is both higher productivity growth and higher employment creation. What is needed for these objectives to be achieved are economic reforms that ensure that capital, labour and product market rigidities will be substantially lowered. Structural reforms in capital, labour and product markets and in social security systems are needed to allow an allocation of capital and human resources which would be much closer to the optimum, enhancing the euro area’s growth potential and facilitating the adjustment to economic shocks. The reform priorities in the euro area’s capital, labour and product markets are overarching and very broad. In many cases they need to be translated into concrete policy measures at the European and/or the national level. Starting with capital markets, the pace of reform in this field has been impressive over the last years in anticipation and since the introduction of the euro. This includes policy-induced reform, such as the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) or the development of national legal frameworks governing the issuance of mortgage bonds. Reform covers also market-led initiatives, such as the development of electronic trading platforms or consolidation in the clearing and settlement infrastructure. Despite the past achievements the need for continuation and completion of the reforms remains.