Tadawul reveals big shareholders

Saudi Arabia's stock exchange has started displaying major shareholders of its listed companies in the latest of a series of steps intended to regulate dealing and restore discipline to the market, the bourse said yesterday.

The names of shareholders, who own at least five per cent of any listed companies, started to appear on Tadawul's screens and its website on Thursday following a decision last month by the market regulators.

"Tadawul announces the beginning of displaying the substantial shareholdings of the listed companies on Tadawul website to enable investors to view all substantial shareholders who own five per cent or more of each company's shares according to the record of the Depository Centre at Tadawul," the index said.

It said the lists could be viewed online under the major shareholders category in the company profile, adding that the list would be updated daily starting today.

Tadawul is by far the largest and busiest stock exchange in the Middle East, with its market capitalisation standing at around $423 billion (Dh1.5 trillion) on Thursday, more than a third of the total capitalisation of the Arab world's 15 bourses.

Its turnover was estimated at around $10bn in the first two weeks of August, nearly 40 per cent of the combined value of shares traded in the Arab markets.

The decision to reveal the names of key shareholders created confusion in Tadawul in the first three weeks, sharply depressing dealing and sending its market capitalisation to its lowest level of just more than $400bn since September.

The market rebounded only a few days ago but remained unstable.