Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – 8 February 2024 – The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The MoU aims to enhance bilateral cooperation in the areas of dual listing of issuers in both markets and unifying the Know Your Customer models for capital market institutions.
The signing ceremony was held on the sidelines of the third meeting of the Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
On this occasion, the Governor of the CBB, His Excellency Khalid Ibrahim Humaidan, affirmed the importance of strengthening bilateral ties between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in various fields for the benefit and development of both countries, particularly in the field of financial services in order to serve bilateral interests.
He stated that the MoU includes a number of provisions including the scope of dual listing application, obligations of issuers in this context, violations, and the development of a mechanism for exchanging data and information with listed companies.
The MoU also stipulates procedures for simplifying investment account opening by enabling capital market institutions in both jurisdictions to streamline procedures and allows the reliance on third parties for customer due diligence.
The Governor of the CBB said, “We look forward to enhancing areas of joint cooperation in the capital markets field and benefiting from the experiences of both countries, identifying opportunities for developing relations between the two sides to support joint projects.”