Saudi Arabia’s Capital Markets Authority announced the completion of compensation to investors affected by violations in the shares of Watani Iron Steel Co that occurred before and after the company’s direct listing on the Parallel Market (Nomu). The compensation follows a final decision by the Appeal Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes against five individuals, stemming from a penal case filed by the Public Prosecution and referred by the CMA, which required them to pay SAR 41.4 million in illegal gains. Compensation was paid into investors’ accounts through a Compensation Fund established by a CMA Board resolution and implemented under a distribution plan approved by the Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes, reflecting the scale of the violations, the illegal gains and investors’ harm during the violation period. Some payments exceeded SAR 1 million, described as the highest compensation approved by the committee; investors who believe they were harmed but were not included in the distribution plan may still file an individual claim with the committee. The CMA framed compensation funds as complementary to other routes such as individual lawsuits and class actions, and set out that it assesses whether to establish such funds under Article 59 of the Capital Market Law using criteria including the feasibility of collecting illegal gains, the nature and number of violations, their impact and the practicality of compensating affected parties through the committee-approved mechanism.

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