RIYADH: Saudi Arabia may charge 60 per cent extra trading fees from investors trading on the Tadawul bourse, which is readying for an initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reported, quoting two sources. The Capital Markets Regulator (CMA) may increase the trading cost to 0.025 per cent from the current 0.018 per cent. The new fees, which are split equally between the regulator and the exchange, could be introduced later this year, the Bloomberg report said.
The CMA confirmed in a statement to Bloomberg that it is contemplating a fee increase, but didn’t divulge more details. “The CMA is considering a change to the trading fee structure and will make the necessary announcement as and when the CMA’s board makes its decision,” it added.
Officials at the Tadawul exchange remained unavailable for a comment. The deliberations have been made ahead of a possible IPO of the stock markets operator, analysts said. “They want to do that (increase trading fees) before the IPO to sell to the market a better business plan for the bourse because bulk of the revenues are generated through these fees,” Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at The National Investor told Gulf News.
