RIYADH, 18 April 2007 — Over 80 local companies accused of cheating, or buying shares from the Saudi bourse using inside information, or that have refused to announce their actual profits and engaged in fraudulent acts have been identified by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and are currently under investigation, CMA chief Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Tuwaijri announced here yesterday.

“Some of these companies have been directed to a special department for the settling of financial disputes where administrative decisions from the board of the CMA apply,” said Al-Tuwaijri during his inaugural speech at the Governance of Financial and Banking Companies Symposium, which kicked off yesterday.

“As for the rest, they are being investigated according to the rules and regulations of the CMA,” he said, adding that the CMA has continued efforts to provide a sensible investment environment, which would not only pave the way for investments, but also encourage investors in the market.

“An illustration of that would be the completion of legislative regulations, the establishment of financial services, and the implementation of the CMA’s role in overseeing transactions to protect investors,” he said.

The CMA chief said that among new legislative regulations for companies was that the board of any joint company would have the responsibility of supervising the role of legislative administration to announce profits, shares and losses for the benefit of its shareholders.

Al-Tuwaijri said that the current laws of governance for companies were not obligatory at this stage, adding that he was confident that companies would abide by its regulations.

He mentioned that within the next few weeks the Saudi market would start operating according to the rules and regulations of the new scheme entitled new generation.

“The new system will provide more supervision to transactions and deals, which means there will be more efforts to unveil cases of fraud, cheat,” he said, adding that the new system would provide better capabilities for companies to enlist their shares in initial public offerings (IPOs). He further said that the new system would enable the market to absorb more financial notes in addition to shares.

The CMA chief said that efforts were under way to provide more stringent measures to return confidence and maturity to the market after its collapse last year.

The two-day symposium discusses governance of several sectors including the banking sector, and the insurance sector. It will also discuss the impact of governance on the economy and on the policies of joint stock companies.