RIYADH: In a circular issued to all banks, finance, insurance and payments companies operating in the Kingdom, the Saudi Central Bank has directed that the level of customer satisfaction in handling complaints should not be below 80 percent. SAMA also added in its circular that the complaints that were previously escalated and closed for the benefit of the customer after processing should not exceed 5 percent. These guidelines will be implemented starting from the first quarter of the next year, with the continuation of other indicators and the required goals. SAMA stressed that it will review the performance of financial institutions in accordance with the mentioned indicators on a quarterly basis, while taking legal measures against the violating financial entities. Standard insurance policy In July, SAMA issued the standard insurance policy of professional indemnity for auditors of the entities supervised by the Capital Market Authority. In cooperation with the CMA, the standard policy was issued in a bid to promote the concept of sustainability and reduce potential risks in the financial market, according to the central bank’s statement. This was done in addition to setting the minimum acceptable standard that must be met within a professional indemnity insurance policy and protecting the rights of the entire parties to the contractual relationship. The policy covers indemnity for all the amounts the insured is legally liable to pay to others, due to any professional failure committed while providing professional services within the Kingdom. This comes as part of the central bank’s efforts to improve financial services. Also in July, the total assets of the Saudi Central Bank surpassed SR2 trillion ($535 billion) for the first time since February 2017. The central bank’s assets grew by SR19.5 billion during July to SR2.01 trillion. This translates to month-on-month growth of 1 percent from the SR1.99 trillion in June, according to data published on SAMA’s website. At the same time, the central bank’s net foreign assets fell by SR9.3 billion during July to SR1.67 trillion. The foreign reserves indicator slipped 0.6 percent from SR1.68 trillion in June, data compiled by Arab News showed.