A Critical Analysis of Investor Protection under Saudi Stock Market Regulations

As the government of Saudi Arabia begins a major evolutionary process of economic expansion, the Saudi stock market has become the focus of increased attention. The legal framework that regulates the stock market is still considered to be underdeveloped, as only recently, in 2003, did the Saudi legislator issue a Capital Market Law (2003) and create a regulatory body vested with its enforcement. The securities market was built around this legislation, which helped to stimulate the economy by attracting investor. However, the Saudi stock market experienced a big crash in February 2006, which had a profound impact in heavy losses for large and small investors. The practical application of these new laws brought to light some shortcomings in the regulations of the stock market, and specifically, the need for the legal protection of investor. Hence, the overarching aim of this thesis is to focus particular on four issues: on the question of whether or not the existing regulations of the Saudi stock market adequately protects investor from poor disclosure, insider trading and market manipulation induced partly by market brokers. Thus, there are four primary objectives of this thesis: to enhance the effectiveness of existing rules to secure a suitable level of protection for investor against poor disclosure, market abuse and illegal practices by broker; to increase investor confidence and attractiveness of the market; to prevent a future repeat of the stock market collapse and avoid the steps that caused it; and finally, to provide useful material for Saudi Capital Market Law (2003) reforms in the future. In order to examine these sensitive issues, the thesis will first examine whether or not the disclosure regulations of the Saudi stock market provide adequate protection to investor and secondly assess the effectiveness of the legal framework of insider trading regulations for preventing insider trading. Third, it will ascertain how well the the law defines market manipulation and covers the most common forms of market manipulation under Saudi securities law. Lastly it will explore the responsibility that brokers in the Saudi stock market have to achieve the greatest degree of protection for investor.