S Arabia to give outsiders access to stock market

[LRE]

S Arabia to give outsiders access to stock market

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has decided to give outsiders limited access to the country’s stock market, a move that could open up the Persian Gulf’s largest market to increased foreign investment. The decision, announced Wednesday by the country’s Capital Market Authority, will allow certain authorized market players to enter into financial transactions known as swap agreements with nonresident institutional or individual foreign investors. Although the new regulations do not allow foreigners to own shares of Saudi companies outright, they do for the first time let outsiders reap economic benefits of the shares. Previously, foreign investors outside the Gulf could only invest in Saudi stocks indirectly through mutual funds. ap

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