CMA approves set of regulatory enhancements for investment funds in Saudi Arabia
This includes amendments to the Investment Funds Regulations, the Real Estate Investment Funds Regulations, and the Glossary of Defined Terms Used in the Regulations and Rules of the Capital Market Authority.
The amendments approved by the CMA Board aim to develop a regulatory framework for investment funds, enhance the asset management industry, and strengthen its competitiveness by identifying areas for improvement and adopting global best practices.
The amendments also include additional regulatory provisions that support the growth of the investment fund and real estate investment fund sectors, enhance transparency and disclosure for fund unit holders, and establish governance standards that ensure greater protection of investors' rights.
Key amendments focus on enhancing the efficiency of investment fund management by expanding the categories authorized to distribute fund units to include investment fund distribution platforms and electronic money institutions licensed by the Saudi Central Bank, through their websites or mobile applications. The amendments also address the termination of investment funds and the dismissal of fund managers, in addition to regulating the voluntary withdrawal of managers of public and private investment funds. Among these provisions is the requirement to obtain CMA approval and the obligation of the current fund manager to transfer fund management responsibilities to the successor within 60 days of receiving approval.
These measures aim to protect the rights of investors in both public and private funds, ensure a smooth transition of fund management responsibilities, safeguard the interests of unit holders, and enhance investor confidence in the capital market.
As part of efforts to expand investment opportunities for Real Estate Investment Traded Funds (REITs) listed on the Parallel Market (Nomu), and to support the diversification of their assets and increase their flexibility to enhance potential returns for investors, the approved amendments allow such funds, at the time of their establishment, to invest in real estate development projects without being bound by the investment ratios and asset restrictions specified in the Real Estate Investment Funds Regulations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Dubai rents to ease after handover of 72,000 homes this year
The handover of more than 72,000 homes this year is expected to stabilise rents in Dubai, reducing pressure on tenants and offering them more choice, according to a new report by property portals Bayut and dubizzle. The market is entering a phase of 'healthy stabilisation', with long-term rents showing more measured shifts and short-term rentals continuing to attract steady demand, the research found. ' Dubai's rental market is starting to stabilise after a period of rapid growth,' said Haider Ali Khan, chief executive of Bayut and Dubizzle Group Mena. 'With over 72,000 new units expected this year, the pressure on rents is slowly starting to ease, offering more breathing room and better choices for tenants.' 'With the rent-versus-buy debate picking up, especially now that prices are levelling out, we're seeing more people take a serious look at home ownership. 'The first-time homebuyer initiative launched by the Dubai Land Department is also nudging renters to consider making that leap, offering access to exclusive units and attractive financing.' Dubai's property market has benefited from government initiatives such as residency permits for retired and remote workers, expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme and overall growth in the UAE's economy on diversification efforts. Under the first-time homebuyer initiative, purchasers will have priority access to new homes from participating developers as well as existing inventory. They will also benefit from discounts or limited-time offers on the price of off-plan units, flexible payment plans and improved mortgage options with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees, according to the DLD. Watch: What is Dubai's first-time home ownership scheme? Apartment rents Affordable apartment rents increased by 7 per cent in the first half of the year, but some units in Bur Dubai and Deira reported decreases of 6.19 per cent, the Bayut-dubizzle report found. Mid-range apartment rentals experienced rises of 1 per cent to 6 per cent in annual rates. Asking rents for luxury apartments decreased between 1 per cent and 5 per cent. However, some units in Dubai Marina and Downtown Dubai reported an increase of up to 3 per cent in annual rent. Bur Dubai, Arjan and Deira are popular for affordable apartment rentals. Jumeirah Village Circle, Business Bay and Jumeirah Lakes Towers are sought-after for mid-tier units, while Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai and Dubai Creek Harbour maintained their status as prime choices for luxury apartments, the study showed. Villa rents Affordable villa rents surged by up to 9 per cent in some districts. Asking rents for mid-tier villas have generally risen by up to 7 per cent. The exceptions are three and four-bedroom units in Al Furjan, and four and five-bedroom units in JVC, which recorded rent decreases of up to 13 per cent, according to the report. Luxury villa rents surged by up to 53 per cent in the first six months of the year, with five-bedroom units in Dubai Hills Estate reporting the highest rises following the influx of new inventory. 'Continued demand and lack of extensive supply has meant that villa rentals have remained competitive for landlords,' the report said. While Damac Hills 2, Mirdif and Dubai South were preferred for affordable villa rents, Al Furjan, JVC and Arabian Ranches 3 attracted the most tenant interest in the mid-tier segment. Dubai Hills Estate, Damac Hills and Jumeirah were top picks for luxury villa rentals, the report added. A separate report by Springfield Properties showed that apartment rents in Dubai for the second quarter of this year increased to an average of Dh72,090 ($19,629) per annum, up from Dh66,725 in the corresponding period last year. Townhouse rents on average also recorded healthy growth, rising to Dh165,783, while average villa rents increased to Dh263,373, compared to Dh224,879 a year ago, the real estate agency reported. 'The consistent rise in rental values, especially in prime communities, highlights the strong yield potential for property investors in Dubai. With growing tenant demand and attractive rental returns, the market remains a favourable environment for both short- and long-term investment strategies,' the report said.
Arabian Business
3 hours ago
- Arabian Business
Dubai luxury property market hits record high in H1 2025 with 3,731 sales above $2.72m
Dubai's luxury real estate market has delivered its strongest half-year performance on record, with 3,731 properties sold above AED 10m ($2.72m) in H1 2025 — a 62.7 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024. According to Engel & Völkers Middle East, the city is now outpacing global peers in scale, demand, and long-term investor confidence. The second quarter alone saw 2,388 high-end transactions, the highest ever recorded in a single quarter. Ultra-luxury now represents over 4 per cent of total market volume, up from just 1.1 per cent in 2020 — highlighting a structural shift in demand. Standout transactions in H1 2025 included a AED 425m ($115.7m) mansion sale in Emirates Hills and a AED 300m ($81.7m) beachfront villa on Palm Jumeirah. Engel & Völkers Middle East's performance reflects this surge in premium demand. The brokerage recorded a 48 per cent year-on-year increase in transactions and a 40 per centrise in net commission income (NCI) in the first half of 2025, driven by sustained activity across the luxury and upper mid-market segments. Daniel Hadi, CEO of Engel & Völkers Middle East, said: 'Dubai is no longer simply a hotspot for speculative investors but is now a permanent home for the world's elite. 'With 62 per cent growth in AED10m-plus sales and a growing population of resident millionaires, the luxury segment is no longer a niche, it is central to Dubai's real estate identity. 'From Emirates Hills to Palm Jebel Ali, we're seeing a structural shift in demand from global capital moving here for the long term.' Indian investors led the charge, followed by buyers from Germany, the UK, and Portugal. Additional demand came from Spain, Austria, and the Netherlands. Market-wide Dubai real estate growth highlights in H1 2025 Residential Sales Up 22.7 per cent YoY Transaction volume now six times higher than H1 2020 Off-plan Market 54,742 transactions, up 19.9 per cent Hotspots: JVC, Business Bay, Dubai Residence Complex Secondary Market 38,168 sales, up 26.8 per cent First H1 increase in share in years (41.1 per cent of total volume) Key areas: Dubai Marina, Downtown, MBR City Apartments 71,879 units sold, up 18.2 per cent Represents 79 per cent of all sales and over 50 per cent of total market value Villas 27.6 per cent growth in transactions Total value: AED78.3bn ($21.3bn), up 53.5 per cent Emerging villa hubs: The Oasis, Grand Polo Club, The Valley Townhouses Fastest-growing segment with 13,619 transactions, up 57.4 per cent Total value: AED42bn ($11.4bn), up 64.7 per cent Driven by launches in Damac Islands, Damac Hills 2, and The Valley The surge in ultra-luxury activity is mirrored by Dubai's broader economic trajectory. The emirate is on track to surpass 4m residents this year, its fastest population growth since 2018 (Dubai Statistics Centre). Simultaneously, the UAE is expected to attract 9,800 new millionaires in 2025, more than any other country, reinforcing its status as a premier wealth haven. This ongoing inflow is underpinned by favourable tax conditions, lifestyle advantages, and long-term economic policies aligned with global capital migration trends. Recent initiatives like the First Home Buyer Programme, US–UAE AI Acceleration Framework, and Dubai's top global ranking for entrepreneurship continue to draw global capital and talent. Hadi said: 'With no significant oversupply risks on the horizon and demand surging across every segment, Dubai's residential market is set to remain on an upward trajectory,'
Crypto Insight
4 hours ago
- Crypto Insight
Dubai won the real estate tokenization play
Opinion by: Irina Heaver, crypto lawyer The crypto markets are undergoing a hard reset. The speculative hype of 2021 is now a thing of the past. Memecoins and DeFi derivatives no longer move markets like they used to. Investors are no longer chasing vapor; they are looking for substance. They want tangible assets, real returns and real infrastructure. This is precisely where real-world assets (RWAs) come into play. In a market that's tired of pumps and dumps and desperate for durability, tokenizing assets like real estate, luxury goods and commodities offers a rare trifecta: tangible value, yield and access. No white paper fiction with mostly fake advisers, no tokenomics that benefit insiders and early VCs — just good old bricks, gold and oil, but onchain. In the UAE in particular, among all the RWA categories, real estate stands out as the most promising, and it's not hard to see why. RWA tokenization in Dubai For the first time, owning a piece of prime Dubai real estate no longer demands massive upfront capital. Tokenization has opened the gates, allowing anyone with a smartphone and a few hundred dollars to buy fractional shares in a luxury villa, a downtown apartment or a high-yield rental property in JVC. The promise of democratized investing, an idea that has been circling the industry for years, is no longer just theoretical but a framework grounded in law. In May, Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) introduced updated rules. The regulator created a new category of virtual assets: Asset-Referenced Virtual Assets (ARVAs), specifically designed to allow the compliant tokenization of real-world assets like real estate. Tokenized real estate in Dubai This new framework enables the issuance and trading of tokenized real estate on regulated exchanges or through regulated brokers. Issuers must obtain a Category 1 VARA license, meet capital requirements, undergo audits, publish white papers and make proper disclosures. It is a regulated, secure framework designed to support a new generation of global capital. And it's already delivering results. Last month, the Dubai Land Department, together with VARA and leading developers, oversaw the tokenization and sale of two apartments. The entire offering sold out within minutes. Buyers came from over 35 countries, and remarkably, 70% of them were first-time real estate investors in Dubai. This was not an institutional play; it was global retail, arriving with crypto wallets in hand, ready to purchase property onchain. Tokenization made it possible. The benefits aren't limited to investors. Developers finally have an alternative to traditional funding channels. Tokenization enables them to access global capital markets without relinquishing equity, incurring excessive debt with banks, or navigating painstakingly slow fundraising processes. Investors now can diversify across multiple properties rather than committing all their capital to a single deal. And with Dubai's rental yields consistently outperforming those of most major global cities, the value proposition speaks for itself. So why now? What's driving this surge in interest around RWAs? UAE's regulatory clarity around RWA tokenization In uncertain macroeconomic conditions, capital seeks hard assets. Commodities such as gold, oil and natural gas are beginning to look increasingly attractive. The UAE now offers both regulatory clarity and real market and infrastructure access. This was not always the case. The St. Regis Aspen Resort tokenization project, launched in 2018, raised $18 million and was among the first SEC-compliant real estate offerings onchain. It faced numerous challenges. The tokens were not listed on exchanges until 2020, which caused delays for investors seeking liquidity. Even after listing, trading volume remained low, and the token price dropped significantly from $1.32 to $0.85 by early 2022. Access to the offering was limited to accredited investors, and the project's switch from Ethereum to Tezos introduced additional complexity. Although many initially viewed the project as a failure, by 2024 the Aspen tokens had recovered and surged over 200%, indicating that the early struggles were more a result of the growing pains of a new model than a flawed concept. One of the most high-profile early attempts at real estate tokenization — the attempted tokenization of The Plaza Hotel in New York, powered by the same blockchain platform (Harbor) — never made it to market. Despite raising $28 million in venture funding and generating significant buzz, the project was ultimately shelved due to a web of operational, legal, and stakeholder complexities. These early setbacks revealed an uncomfortable truth: While the vision was sound, the surrounding ecosystem, technological, legal, and financial, simply was not ready. The US attempted to regulate 21st-century innovations with a legal framework built in the 1930s. It did not work. Founders looked elsewhere. And Dubai finally stepped up. The UAE didn't try to bend old rules to accommodate new tech. It built something new and that has made all the difference. Suppose you're a founder building a tokenization platform, a VC looking to back infrastructure plays, a family office allocating toward alternative assets, or a builder looking for the next high-impact vertical — if the UAE's RWA tokenization is not already on your radar, you're behind. The rails are built. The market is live. And while they used to say 'Habibi, come to Dubai' — now, Dubai is coming to you wherever you are, in the form of tokenized real-world assets. Opinion by: Irina Heaver, crypto lawyer Source:
