Saudi Arabia Names Mazen Al-Sudairi as Chairman of Capital Market Authority

Saudi Arabia has appointed Mazen Al-Sudairi as chairman of the Capital Market Authority. He replaces Mohammed bin Abdullah Elkuwaiz under a royal decree that grants the new chairman the rank of minister. Saudi Press Agency reported the appointment on Thursday.

The CMA oversees and develops Saudi Arabia's capital market. It issues regulations, rules, and instructions to implement the Capital Market Law, and its stated task is to foster a favorable investment environment and enhance market confidence. Al-Sudairi arrives with a long record on the sell side of that market, not as a career regulator.

His most recent government role was as an advisor at the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers, at the Excellent Grade, starting May 15, 2024. Before that he spent more than seven years at Al Rajhi Capital, where he served as head of Sell-Side Research from March 2017 to May 2024.

At Al Rajhi Capital, Al-Sudairi oversaw research reports covering approximately 95 percent of the Saudi stock market, according to his LinkedIn profile. He took part in IPO research for Saudi Aramco, analyzed the kingdom's annual budget, and led a team that won Best Research House at the Saudi Capital Market Awards in 2021.

His earlier sell-side experience came at Alistithmar Capital, where he headed sell-side research from September 2012 to March 2017. In that position he built a research department for GCC sectors and markets, publishing sector studies, economic forecasts, and market analysis.

Before Alistithmar, Al-Sudairi was a buy-side financial analyst at Samba Financial Group from January 2010 to April 2012. He covered petrochemicals and energy in the Gulf region, including SABIC, BASF, BAYER, TOTAL, and nearly 30 international equities.

He started his career at Degroof Petercam in Brussels, where he was a financial analyst and fund manager from January 2008 to October 2009, focusing on telecommunications, energy, and real estate in European markets.

Al-Sudairi holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from King Saud University and a master's degree in finance from the Institut Supérieur de Gestion in France, obtained in 2008. He is the son of the late Turki bin Abdullah Al Sudairi, editor-in-chief of Al Riyadh newspaper from 1974 to 2015.

Putting a former sell-side researcher atop the CMA connects the regulator directly to the people who value, price, and recommend Saudi securities. Al-Sudairi has spent much of his career analyzing the same companies his new authority supervises. That gives him something most regulators do not bring: first-hand knowledge of how research coverage and listings actually work. His appointment signals that the CMA intends to keep its focus on market development and investor confidence.