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DMDF 2024 Explores Dynamics of Saudi Financial Market

A previous conference organized by the Saudi Financial Academy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A previous conference organized by the Saudi Financial Academy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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DMDF 2024 Explores Dynamics of Saudi Financial Market

A previous conference organized by the Saudi Financial Academy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A previous conference organized by the Saudi Financial Academy (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Debt Markets and Financial Derivatives Forum (DMDF 2024), set to launch on Sunday in Riyadh, will focus on key principles aimed at exploring the dynamics of the Saudi financial market.
Organized by the Financial Academy, the forum will be held under the patronage of Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, Chairman of the Capital Market Authority and the Board of Trustees of the Financial Academy, with the participation of industry leaders, experts, and specialists from the financial securities sector.
The forum will examine emerging trends and insights from experts and CEOs in the financial sector, contributing to the mission of the Financial Academy, which aims to leverage its resources to provide high-level specialized services that align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
Mana bin Mohammed Al-Khamsan, CEO of the Financial Academy, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the forum comes in parallel with the Kingdom’s ongoing advancements, driven by Vision 2030, which seeks to achieve exceptional results across all areas, particularly the economic sector, a cornerstone of the country’s development.
Key Focus Areas
According to Al-Khamsan, the forum will address several major topics in the financial sector, including strategic partnerships with local and international exchanges, such as collaborations with the Saudi Tadawul Group and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It will also include partnerships with renowned international organizations like the CFA Institute and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).
He added that a central focus will be on the debt and derivatives markets, which are expected to experience significant growth in the near future due to recent legal and regulatory reforms. These markets will play a crucial role in diversifying financing sources and improving liquidity.
The CEO of the Financial Academy also noted that the debt and derivatives markets in Saudi Arabia are experiencing rapid growth, and are expected to play a vital role in expanding funding sources and enhancing liquidity over the next few years.
Additionally, the official anticipated a rise in foreign investments in the Saudi financial market due to an improved regulatory environment and increased confidence among international investors.
Future Outlook
According to Al-Khamsan, the forum will shed light on these transformations through panel discussions and dialogues centered on future trends and challenges facing these markets. It will also present innovative solutions to keep pace with global financial market developments.
The forum aims to deliver measurable outcomes by tracking the impact of the Financial Academy’s initiatives on career development within the sector and fostering the principles of continuous professional training across the Kingdom’s financial industry, he underlined.
Al-Khamsan continued that the forum seeks to raise awareness and facilitate the exchange of expertise on modern financial instruments and risk management, while solidifying Saudi Arabia’s position as a leading investment destination regionally and globally. This will be achieved through collaboration with prestigious local and international entities such as the Saudi Tadawul Group, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the CFA Institute.

 

 

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Türkiye’s Simsek Seeks to Calm Investors, Says Market Strains Will Be Managed, Sources Say

People flash mobile phone lights during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
People flash mobile phone lights during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Türkiye’s Simsek Seeks to Calm Investors, Says Market Strains Will Be Managed, Sources Say

People flash mobile phone lights during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
People flash mobile phone lights during a protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan told international investors on Tuesday that they would do whatever was needed to tame market turmoil triggered by the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival.

Police detained Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's main political rival, last Wednesday, and a court jailed him on Sunday pending trial on corruption charges, sparking Türkiye's biggest protests in more than a decade and a major market sell-off.

Simsek told investors he would not comment on judicial matters and the events of the last two weeks, but said there would be no lasting impact on the economy and that he intended to stay in his post, according to two sources on the call.

He also said there would be no change in approach to the economic turnaround program he introduced in mid-2023 when the country was in the midst of its most recent currency crisis.

"They steered almost completely clear of the political crisis," one participant on the call said.

A statement from the finance ministry after the call confirmed that Simsek had reiterated his view that there would be no lasting damage to the economy and that further measures would be taken if needed.

Central bank governor Fatih Karahan told the call that he sees the market turmoil as a temporary blip, one participant said. He also repeated something Simsek had said earlier, that Türkiye will do "whatever it takes" to tame inflation, two sources said.

Journalists were not invited to the call, but participants said Simsek added that the Treasury could reduce bond issuance as part of its response, and that it also had the option of so-called FX-linked bonds, that give buyers some protection against big currency swings.

The minister also said he expected Türkiye to benefit from better bilateral relations with the United States. Later on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is to meet Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio in Washington.

Veteran emerging market analyst Tim Ash at fund manager BlueBay said the call, which also detailed how "offshore" investors had accounted for 60% of FX demand during last week's selloff, had been a "coordinated effort to engage with the international investment community, and re-assure."

REBOUND

Markets were continuing to stabilize after the call drew to a close with the Istanbul stock market finishing the day up 4.5% and the lira steady at just under 38 to the dollar.

The Borsa Istanbul ended last week down 16.6%, its worst drop since the peak of the global financial crisis in October 2008. The lira had dropped more than 10% at the height of the rout on Wednesday.

Tuesday's moves also saw the banking sub-index win back another 5.3%. It slumped more than 26% last week and has now recovered around 7.5% of that.

The Treasury, central bank, the BDDK banking watchdog and capital markets board had already held a series of meetings with market actors over the weekend and announced several steps.

The measures had begun with the central bank raising the upper band of the interest rate corridor by 2 points to 46% in an interim meeting last week, pausing funding from the policy rate.

While the central bank took a tightening step of close to 400 basis points, it also sold around $14 billion in foreign exchange. Additionally, it has started liquidity note issuance and TL-settled forward foreign exchange sales transactions.

The Turkish central bank's net FX position dropped by some $27 billion due to FX sales last week since Wednesday, according to bankers' calculations from the bank's balance sheet.

Short selling on the Istanbul stock market has been banned for one month.

Türkiye's international sovereign bonds were also continuing to claw back some of last week's losses, with the 2045 maturity up almost 1 cent on the dollar at 84.6 cents on the dollar, Tradeweb data showed, after falling more than 3 cents last week.

Türkiye's five-year credit default swaps, which investors often use as a hedge against turmoil, eased again too, ending the day back under 300 basis points according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, having spiked to almost 330 from 260 last week.

Turkish lira implied FX volatility gauges and risk reversals eased slightly, although they remained highly elevated, having soared to their highest levels since the country's last currency crisis in mid-2023, data from Fenics showed.

Ahead of Tuesday's investor call, Himanshu Porwal, EM analyst at Seaport Global had said that the markets had already been reacting positively to the measures taken to settle the markets in recent days.

"I think they (central bank, finance minister) have been doing what is required. FX is usually the first trigger you look at and so far the move has been contained, so I think people are coming to terms with it already," Porwal said.