The head of the Saudi Capital Market Authority Mohammed bin Abdullah Elkuwaiz said CMA is still discussing whether there will be any waivers or exemptions for Aramco listing.STRINGER/Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) is in talks with Saudi Aramco and its advisers about the regulatory requirements for listing on the domestic stock exchange, its chairman Mohammed bin Abdullah Elkuwaiz told Reuters.
“We continue to have discussions with the company and its advisers on both their readiness, as well as our regulatory requirements for the market,” Kuwaiz said on Wednesday.
Asked whether there will be any waivers or exemptions for the company’s listing, Kuwaiz told Reuters in an interview that the CMA is “still having those discussions”.
Reuters reported this month that state-owned oil firm Aramco plans to sell a 1 per cent stake this year, in a potential $20 billion deal, and another 1 per cent in 2020 ahead of an international sale.
The kingdom’s stock market regulator typically requires firms offer at least 20 per cent to 30 per cent of their shares when floating.
Aramco, whose chairman Yassir al-Rumayyan said this week that the IPO would be ready within the next year and preparations were continuing despite Saturday’s attacks on its facilities, is yet to file its prospectus with the Saudi regulator.
“We receive waivers or exemption requests where needed and we review them on a case-by-case basis,” Kuwaiz said, in reference to those discussions.
Aramco’s primary listing will be on the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul) in Riyadh, but the government is still considering a secondary listing overseas, Saudi finance minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.