The Board of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) gave its approval for opening the Parallel Market to those with a bachelor’s degree with securities-related specialties, so that they can be eligible investors in the Parallel Market.
This is under a set of amendments and facilitations that have been passed on various new criteria and the softening of requirements needed by investors to qualify to be part of the group of eligible investors to trade and invest in the Parallel Market.
The move will increase the number of investors based in the Parallel Market “Nomu”, which will lead to better liquidity and a good impression on the market.
The decision was effective right away, and graduates having a bachelor’s degree in finance, investment, or accounting may now invest in the Parallel Market.
This allows new groups of investors to be included within the already identified group of qualified investors, such as those who have completed master’s degrees in finance, accounting, or any other discipline concerning securities, as well as those who have professional qualifications like the SOCPA fellowship or other professional qualifications that have been approved previously.
Some of the approved amendments were the relaxation of the requirements for individual investors interested in entering and investing in the Parallel Market, Nomu.
According to the approved framework, an investor is required to have transacted with an aggregate amount of SR20 million ($5.33 million) in the capital market in general within the last 12 months, as compared to the former, where an investor was required to have 10 quarterly trades that were worth SR40 million at the same time.
This will imply the removal of the quarterly trade requirement and using it throughout the past year, and lowering the minimum requirement to SR20 million.
Moreover, the term “qualified investor in the Parallel Marke” has now been dedicated specifically to the classes allowed to invest in the market.
It was also determined that any person who is or has been a member of the board of directors or a member of special committees that are offshoots of the board of directors of listed companies on the Parallel Market could invest in this market.
The CMA released in March published “The Draft to Develop the Categories of Investors in the Parallel Market” on the Unified Electronic Platform of Consulting the Public and Government Entities on the site of the National Competitiveness Center and the CMA sites.
