Capital Market Authority and Asset Management Firms

QFI: Staff at other asset management firms were still mulling over whether to join, according to Business Week. At issue were the many unknowns and potential pitfalls in the trading rules designed by the market regulator, the Capital Market Authority . Meanwhile, on the trading side, there was also little need for firms that intended to eventually gain QFI status to rush in. Specialist emerging markets investment firm Ashmore Group was one of the first to declare it was applying for the Qualified Foreign Investor status necessary to trade shares on the Tadawul. Many already had exposure to the Tadawul through the swaps market, while company valuations were considered to be on the high side. Issues around clarity on the side of investors were not surprising, he said. Arindam Das, the Middle East and Africa regional head for HSBC Securities Services, one of the companies tasked with vetting QFI applications, said he expected only an insignificant portion of QFIs to be registered come the market opening date. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.