Saudi regulator approves UBS Saudi Arabia merger into Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority board approved UBS Saudi Arabia's merger into Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia.
· Last verified: 26 Oct 2026 (Saudi Exchange (Capital Market Authority))
Summary
- Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority board approved UBS Saudi Arabia's merger into Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia.
- The approval was issued under the Capital Market Law and its implementing regulations.
- The decision ends the two firms' parallel licensed presence in the Saudi market under one entity.
The latest
Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority has approved the merger of UBS Saudi Arabia into Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia, with UBS Saudi Arabia as the merging company and Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia as the surviving entity. The CMA board issued the decision under the Capital Market Law and its implementing regulations, according to a disclosure published on the Saudi Exchange.
Details
- The decision: The CMA board approved an application to merge UBS Saudi Arabia into Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia. The disclosure identifies UBS Saudi Arabia as the merging company and Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia as the absorbing company, meaning the Credit Suisse-licensed entity is the one that survives the transaction in the Saudi market.
- Legal basis: According to the disclosure, the approval rests on the Capital Market Law issued by Royal Decree No. (M/30), dated 02/06/1424H, and its implementing regulations. That framework gives the CMA board authority over licensing and structural changes affecting capital market institutions operating in the kingdom.
- Who decided: The decision was taken by the board of the Capital Market Authority rather than the exchange itself. The Saudi Exchange carried the item as an issuer news disclosure, the standard channel for regulatory decisions affecting listed and licensed market participants.
- Disclosure date: The notice was published on the Saudi Exchange platform on 26/10/2026, timestamped 15:59, after the close of the regular trading session. The announcement was issued in the exchange's issuer news section.
- Direction of merger: The structure is notable because the surviving brand locally is Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia, the smaller name globally after its 2023 takeover. The disclosure does not explain the rationale for that direction, nor does it state whether a renaming of the surviving entity will follow.
- Not specified: The announcement sets out no financial terms, no valuation, and no figures on the assets, clients or staff involved. It also gives no completion timetable, no effective date for the merger, and no detail on the licences the combined entity will retain.
- What it settles: Approval removes the regulatory anomaly of one global banking group holding two separately licensed capital market institutions in Saudi Arabia. Consolidating them leaves a single licensed vehicle through which the group conducts its securities business in the kingdom.
Background
UBS agreed to take over Credit Suisse in 2023 in a state-brokered rescue, bringing the two groups' subsidiaries under common ownership worldwide. Local licences in individual markets, including Saudi Arabia, required separate regulatory approval before they could be combined.
Between the lines
The disclosure is a procedural consequence of the global takeover rather than a new strategic move: with both entities already under one owner, a single Saudi licence is the end point. Because the announcement carries no terms, no effective date and no post-merger naming, the operational shape of the combined business in the kingdom remains to be set out by the group itself.
What's next
Watch for a follow-up disclosure setting the effective date of the merger, any change to the surviving entity's name, and confirmation of which capital market licences and activities the combined firm will carry.