CMA set to launch derivatives market by Q3 2020-end, says chairman

The Capital Market Authority (CMA) has been coordinating with the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) to launch the derivatives market. It is planning to launch index futures contract on Tadawul by the end of Q3 2020, said CMA Chairman Mohammed Elkuwaiz.

The Saudi market regulator is also working with the Ministry of Commerce on enhancing the Companies Law to facilitate doing business for listed and unlisted firms, Elkuwaiz added during a session held by the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat).

"We believe that direct listing, which is new not only to the Saudi market but also to global peers, can be initially implemented in the Nomu Parallel Market, where only sophisticated investors are allowed to trade in shares," he noted.

Sophisticated investors will be more capable of setting the price of stocks without share sale or book-building, said Elkuwaiz, adding that the idea may be considered for the main market, based on its application on Nomu.