CMA Chief: There are 50 requests for listing in Saudi stock market and 100 agreements clinched in preparation for the offering  

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Mohammed Al-Quwaiz, chairman of the Board of the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA), said that the authority has 50 new files for offering in the Saudi stock market (Tadawul). The authority has concluded as many as 100 agreements with financial consultants for the purpose of offering stocks in the market.

Speaking at a dialogue session titled “Reshaping the asset management industry in Saudi Arabia” on the final day of the 8^th Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh on Thursday, Al-Quwaiz said that these agreements give an idea of the continuation of the size and number of offerings and reflect the economic activity and movement in the Kingdom.

The CMA chief said that the offerings witness the transfer of the pricing process to the sector itself. He pointed out the special focus on the investment funds category and the asset management sector because they represent the real evaluation and long-term outlook, which justifies increasing the allocation percentage to them.

Al-Qwaiz said that the volume of foreign investment in the Saudi market exceeded SR400 billion and is still increasing, and the main driver for it is the Kingdom’s economic activity and performance and future expectations. The second factor that is attributed to its increase is the pace of offerings because foreign investors are more willing to participate in offerings from the secondary market and play their role in pricing the offerings.

He noted that the regulatory amendments are another factor in increasing foreign investments, especially since the authority is in the process of reviewing the rules for opening investment accounts soon. “The Gulf residents are treated as residents in the Kingdom, thus allowing them to invest in the Saudi market, which expands the scope of investment,” he added