CMA seeks public feedback on developing securities business activities

Logo of Capital Market Authority (CMA)

The Capital Market Authority (CMA) invited all interested persons and participants in the capital market to share their feedback on developing securities business activities in the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), through the development of regulatory requirements related to facilitating a number of licensing requirements, alongside developing information technology requirements.

The consultation period will last for 30 calendar days, ending on June 17, 2026.

The draft aims to enhance the efficiency of conducting securities business in line with leading international best practices, the regulator said in a statement.

According to the proposed amendments, among the most notable is the facilitation of licensing and business commencement requirements by dispensing with certain information and documents required to be submitted as part of the licensing application and prior to the commencement of business, such as the Terms of Business.

The amendments also include reducing the minimum capital requirement for the custody activity to SAR 20 million, instead of SAR 50 million, in addition to setting a minimum capital requirement for Arranging activities that involve holding client funds in the context of securities-based crowdfunding, at an amount of SAR 2 million, commensurate with the nature of the associated risks, CMA stated.

The proposed amendments also include introducing sub-activities under the Dealing business and specifying the minimum capital requirements based on the nature of each activity and its associated risks. Specifically, the activities of Dealing as Principal, Underwriting, and Executing Transactions on a Margin Basis have been grouped together with a minimum capital requirement of SAR 20 million, while a separate minimum capital requirement of SAR 10 million has been set for the Dealing as Agent activity.

The proposed amendments further include enabling Capital Market Institutions licensed solely to carry on Advising activities to engage in other professions or businesses subject to specified controls, and granting them greater flexibility in combining registrable functions, alongside developing Know Your Client (KYC) requirements by linking them to the customer's money laundering and terrorism financing risk classification, and establishing designated forms for that purpose.

CMA also noted that the number of capital market institutions has more than doubled since 2017, when it stood at 86 institutions, reaching 215 capital market institutions by the fourth quarter of 2025.

It emphasized that the comments of relevant and interested persons, including individuals, government entities, the private sector, and CMA's supervised entities, shall be taken into full consideration for the purpose of approving the final proposed draft.