Do the above-cited opportunities and threats apply similarly to different banks? Specifically, how do they apply to BSF? Saudi French Bank (BSF) the most aggressive of the Saudized banks. It focused on corporate clients, invited them to deposit their money at a cheap rate and provided them with loans at a higher rate. Its loan policy was liberal, aggressive, and Kingdom-oriented. It borrowed from other banks to finance clients, expand its market, share and improve its profit picture.

When clients were hit hard by the recession, they defaulted and the bank performance suffered. To cope with the prevailing recessionary environment, BSF redefined its market to include retail customers and modified its organization to include units responsible for corporate planning, private and retail banking (PRB). It also centralized loan approval decisions at the regional level.