Investors have long looked hungrily at A Saudi Arabia. With a gdp of $750 billion, it is the Middle East's biggest economy, but also its most closed. Its stockmarket, Tada-wul, has a market capitalisation of $590 billion, but foreigners can invest only indirectly, using derivatives sold by Saudi intermediaries. There was great excitement last year when the government announced that it would open the stockmarket to foreign investment on June 15th. But the rules it laid out this week governing such investments are cautious, to say the least. Foreign investors must manage $5 billion in assets to gain entry. No more than 49% of a company can belong to foreigners, and no more than 5% to an individual foreign investor. Total foreign investment in the bourse cannot exceed 10% of its value. The restrictions are similar to those China imposed when first allowing foreign money onto its exchange.
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