Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced Monday that it will open the Kingdom’s capital markets to all categories of foreign investors beginning Feb. 1, 2026, removing the eligibility thresholds that previously restricted direct participation in the Main Market. The story was first reported by the Dubai-based English-language daily, Gulf News.
The CMA’s decision eliminates the “Qualified Foreign Investor” (QFI) concept—an access framework that required some foreign institutions to meet specific criteria, including a minimum assets-under-management threshold cited as $500 million USD.
In its announcement, the CMA said the change is intended to broaden the investor base and support liquidity. The regulator stated that the amendments “eliminated the concept of the Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) … allowing all categories of foreign investors to access the market without the need to meet qualification requirements.
While the rule change expands access, the CMA did not announce any immediate adjustment to foreign-ownership limits for listed companies. However, market watchers have been speculating on whether the longstanding 49% foreign ownership cap will be eased in a future review. As an example of the scale analysts are modeling, Naresh Bilandani, managing director of equity research at Jefferies International, told Gulf News on Monday:
“Our index team calculates that a foreign ownership limit increase from the current 49% to a range of 60% to 100% could attract between $3.4 billion and $10.2 billion of passive inflows from MSCI and FTSE index trackers.”
Saudi Arabia’s broader investment agenda—including in gaming and esports—has been underwritten in part by state-linked capital. Currently, around 380 companies are traded on the Saudi Stock Exchange (overview of those companies). The policy shift to widen foreign participation in public markets comes as investors scrutinize the Kingdom’s funding capacity amid heavy spending commitments and large, high-profile transactions.
One of the most notable recent examples is the announced (and still pending) $55 billion take-private deal for Electronic Arts (EA), led by a consortium that includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners (a company run by Jared Kushner, a former senior advisor to President Donald Trump in his first-term and his son-in-law).