© mago stock&people / Global Look Press
On one hand, it was a masterstroke which will earn political capital with the Saudi people and catalyse an Arab Spring in which MBS is a modernizing reformer who will liberalise Islam.
On the other, it was nothing other than a cynical and desperate attempt to tighten his grip on power and weaken competing clans within the ruling family (especially sons of former King Abdullah) as the nation risks splitting apart due to political and economic fissures. Last week, we noted that former head of the National Guard and senior member of the Abdullah clan, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, purchased his freedom for a cool $1 billion.
If you put yourself in the position of being a Saudi prince or wealthy Saudi official, whatever your opinion of MBS's motivation, you would be forgiven for taking additional measures to make it harder for his henchmen to seize your wealth if you found yourself in the crosshairs.
Comment: This is rich. The Saudis have been laundering money in Swiss banks for decades. All part of "business as usual". But now that MBS has publicly acknowledged the graft - and made an effort to go after it - the banks are left in the position of perhaps having to go along with it. What do they do? Acknowledge that certain Saudis have been laundering money for years, and the banks haven't done anything about it? Deny it? It's a bit of a pickle.