CMA Approves Merrill Lynch as Market Maker for Sadr

Saudi Arabia's capital market regulator and the Saudi Exchange have approved Merrill Lynch Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to act as a market maker for Sadr Logistics Co. on the Saudi Exchange main market. The approval falls under the Kingdom's Market Making Regulations and Market Making Procedures, with obligations broadly similar to Merrill Lynch's other mandates on Saudi-listed shares.

A market maker commits to posting continuous buy and sell orders for a share, helping keep trading smoother and pricing more consistent for investors. For comparable Merrill Lynch approvals on other Saudi securities, the typical obligation parameters currently applied include a minimum presence of orders for around 50% to 80% of continuous trading time, minimum quote sizes generally between SAR 50,000 and SAR 250,000, and a maximum spread ranging from about 0.65% to 5.00% depending on the liquidity of the share.

Some mandates also carry a minimum value-traded requirement of at least 5% of average traded value, while for other securities this is not applicable. The exact commercial fee arrangement and any fee schedule specific to Merrill Lynch's market making for Sadr have not been publicly disclosed.

What it means for investors

Retail and institutional investors trading Sadr shares do not need to use government platforms such as أبشر, مقيم, قوى, ناجز, نفاذ or توكلنا for anything related to market making; those systems are not used for stock market trading or market-maker approvals. The official channels for licensing sit with the Capital Market Authority, while specific approvals, obligations and start dates are published through the Saudi Exchange announcements portal.

Such approvals typically specify a commencement date and remain valid until terminated or amended by mutual agreement and formal announcement, with recent examples showing start dates in 2025 and 2026.

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