Saudi Arabia plans to open its stock market, the Arab world's biggest, to direct investment by foreign financial institutions in the first half of next year, the market regulator said on Tuesday.The opening of the Saudi market, capitalised at about $530 billion, is one of the most keenly awaited economic reforms in the world's biggest oil exporter. The bourse would be one of the world's last major exchanges to begin welcoming foreign money."The market will be open to eligible foreign financial institutions to invest in listed shares during the first half of 2015, with God's permission," the Capital Market Authority said in a statement.Saudi authorities want to open the stock market to create jobs, diversify the economy beyond oil and expose local firms to more market discipline. They have been preparing the reform for years and have completed most technical preparations.
Financial Institutions, Inc. (FII) is a financial holding company. Shares of FISI remained unchanged at $22.23. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $18.39 and as high as $26.59. On average, 40675 shares of FISI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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