CMA: More real estate investment funds needed

Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — There is a growing demand from investment companies to participate with real estate developers to offer more real estate investment funds, Dr. Mohammed Bin Abdul Malak Al-Sheikh, President of the Capital Market Authority, has said.

In a speech at the Real Estate Investment Fund Forum in Riyadh, delivered on his behalf by Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Barrak, member of the CMA Board, Dr. Al-Sheikh said the number of real estate investment funds, both public and private, is now 58.

The CMA is counting on the cooperation between it and the fund managers, real estate developers and investors in order to provide more investment opportunities through these funds.

The Capital Market Authority, Dr. Al-Sheikh said, is working to develop more regulations and to address shortcomings. “The CMA welcomes comments and views on all regulations of the body,” he said.

Stressing that the CMA hopes to work with everyone to facilitate the procedures for offering and availing of funds for all investors in the financial market, Al-Sheikh said several citizens have shown keen interest in investment in real estate.

In recent years, the real estate sector has witnessed remarkable development with increasing economic growth and government spending on infrastructure. The collective investment in the real estate sector will allow investors, especially the small ones, to benefit from their savings, he noted.

He said the Capital Market Authority has issued regulation for the Real Estate Investment Fund for an organized investments in the sector.

Moreover, Al-Sheikh said, the CMA hascompleted the issuance of most important regulations, including the regulation of Real Estate Investment Funds, which are subject to, like others, revisions and updates from time to time according to what is observed after the implementation.

The CMA president said that the regulation came to support the controlled collective investment in the real estate market through licensed companies. “These are subject to the supervision and control of the authority and to the governance laws.”

The Real Estate Investment Fund Regulation includes a lot of opportunities and possibilities. It also allows for organizing the real estate investment funds of similar projects, he pointed out.