Title: The Capital Markets Authority Publishes the 19th Issue of its Electronic Awareness Magazine

Kuwait, March 2, 2025 - The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has published the first issue of its electronic awareness magazine for the year 2025, marking the 19^th issue in a series that began on December 1, 2020.

The issue opens with the “Editorial” section, featuring an article titled  “The Future is the Gulf” by Prof. Ahmad Al-Melhem – Chairman of the CMA Board of Commissioners. It highlights recent developments in the  economic integration of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council , particularly in financial markets. The  article completion of key initiatives, the latest was the establishment of the regulatory framework for passporting of financial products, and the implementation of passported funds in those financial markets as of the start of this year.

The “Economic Leaders” section pays tribute to the late Dr. Ahmed Al-Rub’i, recognizing his contributions as a politician, media figure, and thinker dedicated to national concerns. The section reflects on his lifelong advocacy for freedom and democracy, as well as his optimism, encapsulated in his well-known phrase: “Kuwait is still beautiful... be hopeful.”

The “Legal Section” explores the topic of “Special Purpose Vehicles” in light of Law No. 7 of 2010, providing its definition, types related to CMA’s Law, legal form, mainly special purpose vehicles related to securities. It also presented its regulating provisions in the Executive Bylaws of the aforementioned Law.

The " Issue Event " section covers the passporting of financial products between the regulatory bodies of the financial markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as it was the most prominent throughout the issue period due to its positive impact on the integration of the economies of GCC countries, especially in terms of enhancing the components of the attractive investment environment in the GCC countries, expanding the base of financial products and services available therein, diversifying, and upgrading the financial industry in general, and those related to products related to passporting in particular, which supports the stability of the financial markets in the GCC countries. It also presented, through questions and answers, the details of passported funds.

The “Opinion and Vision” section discusses the “climate change” as a pressing global issue, and examines its repercussions on business continuity of the organizations and institutions. It presents visions for a mechanism for addressing the repercussions, with a focus on the proactive measures that can be taken in this context.

The Acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Mr. Walid Shamlan Ahmad Al-Bahar, was the guest of the issue, in which he presents the Fund’s experience and its progressive roles (locally and internationally) during the six decades following its establishment since the sixties of the last century. He also discusses the Fund’s work mechanism and coordination efforts with international and regional bodies, in addition to the qualitative transformations in the Fund’s path during recent years, with the emphasis on financing projects related to addressing environmental and climate complications.

The awareness section - as usual - after introducing some definitions related to securities activities, covers several topics: The roles and objectives of corporate governance and sustainability centers, Islamic investment instruments and their strategic objectives, structures and legal obligations, in addition to the topic of “Hedging and risks in financial transactions.”

The “Information Awareness” section covers the topic of social engineering as the art of manipulation, and presented common social engineering tactics, in addition to mechanisms of protection.

The “Issue File” section is allocated for obtaining the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certificate, as a new step in the path of improving the quality of its performance. It also summarizes the most prominent stages of the CMA’s institutional empowerment path, especially within the framework of its self-governance, digital transformation, and institutional sustainability.

The “Prospects and Trends” section discusses financial services in the era of quantum computing, exploring its investment landscape, role in financial services, the challenges it faces, and the potential benefits of its application. Following this, the “The Core” section examines International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) No. 13, which addresses fair value measurement.

The “Studies” section presents a study on CMA’s estimated budget as one of its tools for achieving its regulatory and supervisory objectives, starting with the foundations for preparing the estimated budget, the permanent committee for preparing the annual estimated budget, in addition to the development of budget implementation rates over the previous years, and the role of the Board of Commissioners in approving it.

As for the most prominent events and activities of the CMA during the issuance period extending between December 2024 and February 2025, they are summarized in the “Events” section.

In the issue’s final section “In conclusion” the editor-in-chief of the magazine Mr. Khaled Al-Saqer, Awareness Office Director at the CMA, presents the topic of financial innovation as the essence of digital transformation, which in turn represents the base of the digital economy, it is the forefront of our priorities, especially with its dominance over the traditional economy, and the expansion of the scope of services related to it that are based on the worlds of technology, communications, digital transformation and artificial intelligence.

Finally, it is worth noting that CMA’s electronic awareness magazine is a quarterly awareness publication concerned with the awareness of financial, investment, and legal issues related to securities activities, in addition to covering the CMA’s news and events during the issuance period.

Ends-
Notes to Editors:
The Capital Markets Authority was established pursuant to Law No. 7/2010, approved by the Kuwaiti Parliament in February 2010. Pursuant to the Law, the CMA shall regulate and supervise the securities activities, achieve transparency and fairness, observe listed companies’ execution of Corporate Governance regulations, and protect investors from unfair practices which violate the CMA's Law.

Furthermore, the Law's provisions stipulate the supervision of mergers, acquisitions, and disclosure operations. The CMA also aims to provide awareness programs related to securities activities.

For further information, please contact:
Public Relations & Media Office
Tel: 1888898
Email: pr-media@cma.gov.kw