RIYADH: The Saudi Central Bank on Sunday issued the IT governance framework to streamline functions of financial institutions operating in the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The framework will also be applicable to lending institutions, Saudi Payments and credit information companies. It is part of SAMA’s responsibilities to effectively identify and address potential IT risks and threats. In a circular, SAMA said the framework intends to improve IT governance practices as well as developing effective controls. The central bank is keen to improve the financial infrastructure that ensures optimizing utilization of available technological resources and minimizing IT-related risks. The central bank emphasized that compliance with the framework is mandatory for financial institutions. It may be noted that the framework is a supplementary document to other regulatory guidelines issued by SAMA to ensure availability, resilience and security of IT infrastructures. The IT governance framework can be found on SAMA’s website.