Highlights of the Group

Towards a brighter future

With the formation of the Saudi Tadawul Group, all the subsidiaries underwent a restructuring. The new structure of the Group gives independency to the subsidiaries’ businesses and enables them to be more focused, which contributes to providing strategic resiliency, integration, and growth, in addition to achieving operational efficiency.

The main market recorded a very impressive performance during 2021, as demonstrated by the key market indicators.

The transformation

With the formation of the Saudi Tadawul Group, the former Saudi Stock Exchange and its subsidiaries underwent a huge transformation. The new structure gave the subsidiaries the opportunity to focus on their specific functions. At the same time, the holding company gives cohesive direction and facilitates realization of synergies. The formation of Tadawul Advanced Solutions Company (WAMID), a newly created subsidiary focused on solutions and pioneering technologies, epitomizes the growing importance of technology and innovation.

Operational highlights

The main market recorded a stellar performance during the year as demonstrated by the market indicators. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) grew by 29.83%, the market capitalization grew by 9.97%, and the value of shares traded grew by 7.09%. The number of qualified foreign investors increased by around 14% to reach 2,658.

The performance of the parallel market Nomu was also impressive. The market capitalization increased by 56.23% and the value of shares traded by 59.77%. The Nomu Index, however, recorded a decline of 1.03%. Nomu also took a step forward when its rules were amended to permit the listing of REITs, ETFs, and CEFs. The rules regarding transitioning from the parallel market to the main market were amended, making the process simpler.

The other subsidiary companies saw important developments during the year. The Securities Depository Center Company (Edaa) signed an agreement to link the Saudi Stock Exchange with “Clearstream” (a provider of post-trading services to Deutsche Börse AG), allowing international investors to invest in the Sukuk, Bonds, and ETFs listed on the Saudi Exchange. The link became operational in the second half of 2021 and allowed the Group to also benefit from the services of the International Securities Depository Center (ICSD).

The Central Counterparty Clearing House (Muqassa) played a major part in the introduction of index futures. It also activated the clearing of transactions for index futures. Muqassa has established itself as an effective intermediary in the transaction process within the Kingdom. To improve its service offering and catalyze an exchange of information and knowledge, it recently announced its commitment to secure bilateral agreements and strengthen regional cooperation between clearing center companies through a series of MOUs.Muqassa will also be announcing the extension of its clearing services which will benefit market participants and reduce the systemic risk in the Saudi capital market.

The new technology and innovation company, Wamid, holds much promise for the future. It has tremendous potential to provide new generation services with distinct capabilities to enhance the integration of the market infrastructure and build innovation-oriented strategic partnerships. These capabilities will act as a key driver for the development of the Saudi financial market and the expansion of the Group.

IPO

A strong financial system is a foundation for the transformation that the Kingdom is currently undergoing. It is vital to have an advanced financial market with a prominent global presence and advanced and sophisticated financial institutions as key enablers for this growth.

The Saudi Tadawul Group is a key element in achieving this transformation of the Kingdom, and the main pillar for the implementation of the Financial Sector Development Program within Vision 2030. The Group contributes to the achievement of Vision 2030 by ensuring the continuous development of an integrated and technologically-advanced financial market and by providing investment opportunities comparable to most developed markets in the world.

In 2021, the Group, the leading player in the financial markets in the MENA region, announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering and to list its shares on the main Saudi Exchange after having obtained the approval of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) on 3 November 2021. This included offering 36 million shares, which represents 30% of the Company’s capital, by selling 36 million shares owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), 70% of which were allocated to the participating classes and 30% to individuals who constitute a very important segment in the attractiveness and volume of daily and monthly market trades.

The volume of coverage for the participating classes amounted to 121 times of the total shares offered, and the collected funds amounted to SAR 458 Bn. Focusing on the individual subscription coverage, the number of individual participants reached 598.33 thousand individuals, with a total coverage of 442.53% and a total value of more than SAR 5 Bn for individual requests.

Awards and recognitions

Information Technology Division passed the ISO 20000-1:2018 Service Management Systems surveillance & transition audit in addition to the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System surveillance audit for the year 2021 conducted by SGS S.A., a pioneer and globally certified audit and inspection company.

Saudi Tadawul Group’s continuous success in maintaining such global certificates despite the circumstances and challenges imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic, major technology changes, the increase of IT services, and adopting new processes as part of the ISO 20000-1:2018 version demonstrates the quality and efficiency of the processes and procedures adopted by Information Technology Division to deliver the corporate expectations according to the relevant international standards.