The Saudi Arabia Capital Market Authority (CMA) has pointed out that its decision announced by the CMA Board to exempt listed companies from disclosing financial statements for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year is part of CMA’s ongoing efforts to develop the financial market in the Kingdom. It also stems from CMA’s keenness to keep up with continuous changes in global markets, as well as applying best international standards and practices, taking into account the transition to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
CMA indicates that this decision will give listed companies the right to choose whether to disclose its preliminary financial statements for the fourth quarter of the current financial year, as it is not mandatory. However, this does not exempt listed companies from complying with the provisions of paragraph (e) of Article (42) of the Listing Rules, which mentions that shareholders must be notified of the annual audited financial statements within a period not exceeding three months from the end of the annual financial period covered by those financial statements.
The CMA Board issued its decision on 11/12/2005 regarding exempting joint stock companies from issuing their audited financial statements for the fourth quarter, provided that they issue their annual financial statements during the lawful limitation for issuing the preliminary financial statements for the fourth quarter, which listed companies are complying with since then.