Insights
A market open to every foreign investor: what a listed company prepares on its side of the register
Since 1 February 2026 any foreign investor may buy shares on the Main Market directly. The limits did not move; the shareholder base will. The work falls on the issuer as much as on the investor.
What changed
The Capital Market Authority removed the Qualified Foreign Investor regime and the framework for swap agreements. Foreign investors now hold shares directly and exercise the rights attached to them. The limits remain: 10 per cent for an individual non-resident foreign investor and 49 per cent for foreign investors together, with strategic investors outside those limits. The Authority has said it will review the limits again during 2026.
Strategic investors sit outside these limits.
Why it reaches the issuer
Foreign ownership of Saudi equities is still low against comparable markets. As it rises, a company meets holders who read its disclosures in English, vote from abroad, and ask at the general meeting the questions a domestic base rarely asks.
Four things to settle
The register — a way to follow foreign holdings against the limits, so that the company is not the last to know when a ceiling approaches.
Disclosure — announcements and reports that say the same thing in Arabic and in English, reviewed by the same hand.
The general meeting — notices, proxies and voting that work for a holder abroad, and a chair ready for the question.
The board — related-party and inside-information policies that hold when an investor tests them.
What we would do now
A governance review measured against the new shareholder base. We read the company’s disclosure practice, meeting procedures and policies, and return a short list of changes ranked by risk — before the next general meeting, not after it.
Where we come in
Our Listed Companies & Governance circle works with boards and company secretaries on continuing obligations, disclosure and general meetings.
This note is general information, not legal advice. It reflects the law as we understand it on the date shown.