Are violations in Arab and global stock markets normal? Certainly not. Unfortunately, however, they are expected and happen. Why? Because some people give in to personal material gains, driving them to commit violations in order to obtain illegal profits. Therefore, honest management in joint-stock companies carries weight in the decision to invest in a particular company's shares.

There are two types of violations: discretionary errors by the company's management, such as announcing an inaccurate figure in a budget item, which may positively or negatively affect the investment decision in the stock, whether selling or buying. This is acceptable because it is corrected immediately. There are also unacceptable violations that should be subject to deterrent penalties: intentional violations aimed at enrichment, such as trading during the blackout period by the company's board of directors, announcing false news that impacts the company's stock price positively or negatively, manipulating budget figures to show a reality contrary to facts, or price manipulation by some traders, such as creating artificial demand or supply to raise or lower a company's stock price beyond what its performance warrants, then buying or selling the stock. This is known as creating a false price because it does not last long, unlike strong companies' shares, as the shares of strong companies with outstanding performance often have narrow price fluctuations. Even if they decline in the market for any reason, such as a poor market situation or an investor liquidating a large quantity of shares, they quickly return to their normal levels because investors reassess them. If they believe the shares are undervalued, they start buying, meaning the price impact is temporary. As for shares of companies affected by these violations—which they do not deserve—they decline and cause deceived traders huge losses. Therefore, Arab capital markets must impose deterrent penalties for such violations, following the example of global markets, to create an efficient market that traders, whether local or foreign, can trust. The more efficient the market, the more it attracts foreign capital.

The Saudi stock market is the largest Arab market in terms of capitalization and one of the oldest Arab markets; therefore, its experience is considered important. Then come the Egyptian and Gulf stock markets as highly significant markets. And since the Saudi market is the oldest with extensive experience, I hope Arab markets will examine its experience and benefit from it, especially regarding what was announced last week: the Saudi Capital Market Authority referred the manipulators of shares in 'Al-Kathiri' and 'Anam Holding' to the Public Prosecution, and fined them 292.8 million riyals ($87.08 million), a large and deterrent penalty. Most importantly, this fine will be returned to the affected parties, and this is what is required, through a compensation fund established for this purpose. Moreover, the Saudi Capital Market Authority did not claim to reinvent the wheel; rather, it stated that it adopted best international practices to enhance trust and fairness in the Saudi market, in line with the nature of the Saudi market.

I hope that Arab stock markets, particularly the Egyptian and Gulf markets, as active markets, will compete in applying international standards to violators, and benefit from their purely Arab experiences to create Arab markets that investors trust. Thank you.