CMA Chairman: We consider facilitating investment in the market for residents of Gulf countries

Mohammed Al-Quwaiz, Chairman of the Board of the Capital Market Authority, revealed that the Authority is currently working on facilitating direct investment for foreigners by reviewing the rules for opening investment accounts, indicating that among the initiatives being studied is granting investors residing in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries the same treatment that Saudis receive.

He stressed that the Authority’s new strategy (2024-2026), which was launched some time ago, focuses on the asset management industry and creating new categories of funds.

This came during Al-Quwaiz’s participation in the (Assets Forum) today as part of the (Future Investment Initiative). He said in this regard that the strategy aims to develop the debt instruments market (sukuk and bonds), and on the other hand, “we expect increasing growth in the derivatives market.”

Mohammed Al-Quwaiz, Chairman of the Capital Market Authority, said: “The percentage or volume of foreign investment in the Saudi market has exceeded at least 400 billion riyals, which shows continued growth.

Al-Qawir announced that there are 100 companies that have signed agreements with financial advisors for the purpose of offering and listing in the financial market, while the Authority has 50 active files for offerings under study.

The Capital Market Authority recently published a detailed report on the work of financial market institutions licensed by the Authority during the second quarter of 2024.

According to the Authority’s data, the volume of assets managed by financial market institutions in the practice of management activity by the end of the second quarter of 2024 amounted to about 935 billion riyals, an increase of 3%, equivalent to 26.6 billion riyals, compared to the previous quarter.

The Authority’s strategic plan (2024-2026) is based on three main pillars that include 9 strategic objectives, and includes a package of ambitious initiatives to achieve these objectives, as the first pillar is concerned with activating the role of the financial market in financing and investment by enhancing the role of the stock market and equity in financing, developing the sukuk and debt instruments market, enabling the growth of the asset management industry in the Kingdom, and enhancing the services of the Saudi financial market to attract more international investments.

Initiative to facilitate opening investment accounts:

It is noteworthy that the Committee of Heads of Capital Market Authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries adopted an initiative to facilitate opening investment accounts by relying on a third party to fulfill the requirements of due diligence and customer acceptance, as a unified “guidance” Know Your Customer model was adopted to facilitate procedures for citizens and residents of the GCC countries, and encourage financial institutions to sign bilateral agreements with counterpart institutions in other countries.

Objectives of the initiative:

– Achieving harmony and integration in the work mechanisms and procedures in the system of Gulf capital market authorities and stock exchanges to achieve its main goal, which is to facilitate dealing in the financial markets (stock exchanges) for citizens and residents of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

– Facilitating the procedures for opening investment accounts in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

– Coordinating to embrace the principle of financial institutions relying on third parties in other countries to fulfill the requirements of due diligence to facilitate the procedures for opening investment accounts in the Gulf markets for citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and residents in those countries.

Implementation mechanism: This is done by publishing the contact information of financial institutions on the websites of the authorities, so that financial institutions can know the corresponding institutions in other countries and sign bilateral agreements and rely on them to meet the due diligence and customer acceptance requirements for potential customers from citizens and residents of the GCC countries.