Saudi Arabia in top 10 nations protecting minority investors: CMA chief

Saudi Arabia's position in the World Bank's annual “Ease of Doing Business” index on the dimension of protecting minority investors has jumped from 63rd position to the top 10 in just one year, Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, chairman, Capital Market Authority (CMA), told Euromoney Conference 2018 in Riyadh.

The improvement comes after the authority has focused heavily on improving the degree of confidence in the market.

"The capital market cannot be sustained without a high degree of confidence from the issuers and investors,” he added.

El-Kuwaiz said the number of shareholders at assemblies have increased by 200 percent after the CMA mandated electronic voting.

"We are also witnessing the emergence of a market for corporate control, which is a very healthy feature for publicly traded companies," he added.