Kuwait allows foreign investors to own and trade bank shares

MediaIN gencies 16-12-2018

Kuwait’s Minister of Trade and Industry Khalid Al-Rowdan on Saturday issued a decree allowing foreign investors to own and trade Kuwaiti banks without a cap for ownership, the official KUNA news agency reported.
The procedure requires the approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait, if the ownership exceeds 5 percent of the bank’s capital, after the recommendation of the Capital Markets Authority to take this step.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement on Saturday that “this came in the decision to issue No. 694 of 2018, where the text of the resolution: Replace the text of Article 3 of the Ministerial Resolution No. 205 the following text: The non-Kuwaiti investor is allowed to own and trade shares of Kuwaiti banks.
It added that the decision also guarantees that “without the prior approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait, the ownership of one person may not be natural or legal in any of these banks 5% of the bank’s capital, whether directly or indirectly.”
The Ministry stated that the decision stipulated that “in the case of an investor, every person or group of persons brought together by a legal or economic link, whether through joint ownership, joint management or overlapping interests, shall be deemed to be an investor.