RIYADH: Foreign investors may soon be able to buy Saudi stocks without restrictions, under a draft plan aimed at boosting liquidity and expanding the Kingdom’s $3 trillion equity market.
The proposal, now out for a 30-day consultation, would allow all categories of non-resident investors to purchase shares directly on the Tadawul Main Market.
It would dismantle the Qualified Foreign Investor framework and scrap swap agreements, long seen as barriers to international participation, according to an official release.
Gulf markets such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, already allow foreign investors to buy shares directly, boosting liquidity, attracting global capital, and modernizing their exchanges.
Foreign ownership in Saudi equities has already climbed sharply, exceeding SR528 billion ($141 billion) by the second quarter of 2025, Capital Market Authority data shows. If approved, the changes would mark the most significant market opening since direct foreign access was first introduced in 2015.
