- The Saudi Capital Market Authority Announces Enabling Foreign Investors to Directly Invest Starting from the Beginning of Next February
- The Kingdom’s measures help open Saudi capital markets to non-resident foreigners, contributing to diversifying the investor base and increasing liquidity levels.
- Amendments to the regulatory framework provide facilitations for accessing Saudi financial markets and opening investment accounts for individual investors residing in any of the GCC member states.
The Saudi Capital Market Authority intends to open the capital market to all categories of foreign investors and enable them to directly invest in it starting from early February 2026.
According to a report published by Al Arabiya Net, the Authority’s Board has approved the regulatory framework that allows non-resident foreign investors to invest in the Saudi capital market, which will help diversify and expand the investor base and enhance liquidity levels.
The amendments allow foreign investors to enter the Saudi market without the need to meet qualification requirements, and cancel the regulatory framework of swap agreements that previously restricted non-residents to benefiting only from the economic returns of listed securities on the Saudi stock market.
In addition, the amendments now allow direct investment in equities listed on the main market.
Last July, the Saudi Capital Market Authority approved the facilitation of procedures for opening and operating investment accounts for categories of foreign individual investors residing in any of the GCC countries — whether in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere — with the aim of strengthening confidence levels between relevant entities and investors, thereby positively impacting local investment and enhancing its attractiveness to the Kingdom.
Foreign investor ownership in the Saudi market increased between July and September of last year to exceed SAR 590 billion, of which SAR 519 billion was in the form of foreign investments.
