The stock market has become the rage these days. Every family has at least one member playing the market. Especially men with families have shown great enthusiasm for buying shares in the different companies. The reason is that in the initial stages of the launching of any new company in the stock market, and before any exchange actually starts, participants are allowed to buy shares in their names and in the names of everyone on their family card. Suddenly, everyone is adding forgotten children to their family cards and even borrowing relatives’ and friends’ family cards. People are so desperate to make as much money as possible that they are even using — illegally of course — out-of-date family cards which bear the names of married daughters and former wives.
I am sure that many people are familiar with the story that appeared in several papers and magazines about the woman whose ex-husband used his old family card to buy stocks in her name without her knowledge. Only when her present husband wanted to do the same was the act discovered. The present husband was naturally upset and is taking legal action.
The question here is not why her ex-husband was able to do what he did. I will not address at present the shortcomings of a system that allows a woman’s name to be on two family cards at the same time. My question is: Why are either of her husbands able to use her name to buy and sell stocks without her knowledge or consent?
The incident so infuriated me that I asked several lawyers about the legality of such a procedure. I was assured that according to both Islamic and Saudi law, no man can use a woman’s name in any transaction without her presence or written authorization.
Which brings me to my second question: Why do banks allow men to buy and sell stocks in women’s names without any legal authorization from the women?
When I questioned several employees from different banks, I was told that men are not allowed to open stock portfolios in their wives’ names and are not allowed to buy and sell stocks for them other than those that were distributed during the initial public offering.
Still, I persisted. Even at that stage, shouldn’t the woman’s permission be required? And if her name is used once, it cannot be used again so in the end, no matter how you look it, women are being robbed by their legal guardians — at least robbed of the chance to benefit personally. In reply to this, the banks told me that it is the Capital Market Authority that allows the procedure to go unchallenged.
Worse still, this privilege is being extremely abused by many men. Those who are not interested in playing the stock market themselves often give — or even rent — their family cards to other people who use them. A woman wanting to buy shares may find that her name is being used by someone she does not know. As sordid as this may sound, it is common; it happens all the time. This procedure, I am told, is not legal. My question then is why does it happen so often and so blatantly? How can my name be used by someone I do not even know — and used without my knowledge, let alone my consent? If it is not legal, who or what is allowing it to happen?
Perhaps the most important question is: What are we women going to do about this situation? Discussing the matter with some friends, we came to the following conclusion. We want our legal rights protected; we are not interested in theories to be boastfully presented by those who defend Islam. We women know that Islam has given us full financial rights but the fact is that we are not receiving them within the system here in Saudi Arabia. The situation I have written about above is just one glaring example of the wide gap between what Islam directs and what human beings do.
We women have decided to take a stand. This article is a call to every woman who has an account in any bank within the Kingdom and who wants her financial rights protected. Any woman who doesn’t want her name to be misused can e-mail me at [email protected]. The names collected will then be sent to Saudi banks, to the Capital Market Authority and to different legal agencies which have shown an interest in helping women get their rights. All these institutions have a responsibility for protecting the rights of citizens — but even more important, we women have the responsibility to make the first move.
Our point is clear: As participants in the sale of stocks and shares, banks have a responsibility by law to protect our financial rights. Like a mediator in any business transaction, they must demand and require the woman’s presence or legal written permission in any stock transaction. By not doing so, they will be liable to be punished and will also be subjecting themselves — the banks — to legal action.
Women of Saudi Arabia, remember that rights will not be given if we don’t take a stand. It is time to take that stand.
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(Mody Al-Khalaf is a Saudi writer. She is based in Riyadh.)
