Tadawul announces effective date for amending the settlement cycle of listed securities
The Saudi Stock Exchange ‘Tadawul’ announces amending the settlement cycle of listed securities to (T+2) starting from Sunday 23rd of April 2017. This step comes after completing all necessary pilot phases to ensure full technical and functional readiness and connectivity with market participants.
Given the background, on the 3rd of May 2016, Tadawul announced obtaining the CMA’s regulatory approval to amend the settlement cycle of listed securities within two subsequent working days of the trade execution date. Furthermore, Tadawul announced publishing draft rules for the T+2 settlement cycle for public consultation.
Amending the (T+2) settlement cycle of listed securities will increase the level of asset safety for investors by providing enough time to verify trades, and will unify the settlement duration for all types of listed securities.
Implementing the (T+2) settlement cycle of listed securities complies with settlement practices adopted in most international markets. It is also in line with Tadawul’s strategy to support developing the capital market, and Vision 2030 which calls for building a more advanced capital market open to the world.
The Saudi stock market is the 27th largest stock market among the 63 members of the World Federation of Exchanges and is the dominant market in the GCC comprising 42% of total GCC market capitalisation and 81% of value traded. It is the 10th largest stock market amongst its emerging markets peers.
The shift to T+2 is just one of a number of market innovations that Tadawul is implementing along the way in order to make the market more open and attractive to foreign investors and work toward inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.