Kuwait's CMA Unveils “Additional Financial Services”: Margin-Trading Regime, Interest-Bearing Client Cash and an Inducements Ban

On 5 July 2026 the Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue 1798, pages أ40 onward) published Capital Markets Authority Board of Commissioners Resolution No. 85 of 2026 on “Additional Financial Services,” signed by the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Emad Ahmed Tayfoun, on 25 June 2026. The resolution amends Annex No. 4 (the schedule of Authority service fees) of Book Two, together with Book Seven (Client Money and Assets), Book Eight (Business Conduct) and Book Eleven (Dealing in Securities) of the Executive Regulations of Law No. 7 of 2010.

The resolution delivers three reforms. A new Article 1-2-2 of Book Seven lets a licensed person deposit a client’s trading cash into interest- or profit-bearing accounts at locally licensed banks—subject to the client’s prior consent, full segregation, periodic return statements and liquidity sufficient for immediate repayment. A new Article 6-1 of Book Eight bars brokers and their staff from paying or receiving inducements to or from clients, save for symbolic gifts, genuine service costs and regulated brokerage discounts. Book Eleven then codifies a prudential margin-trading regime.

Under that regime, the initial margin must be at least 50% and the maintenance margin at least 25% of the market value of the financed securities; financing is capped at 25% of the service’s funds per security and 10% per client; providers must run Ci-Net creditworthiness checks and report weekly to the CMA on the ratios and to the Central Bank of Kuwait on client credit. On default, the provider may sell the pledged securities without being bound by Articles 231 to 233 of the Commercial Law.

The Book Eleven margin-trading amendments took effect on the resolution’s issuance (25 June 2026); the remaining amendments apply once the CMA issues its new commissions-and-fees structure.

WEFAQ’s view: brokers and investment firms should refresh client agreements, client-money segregation controls and regulatory-reporting pipelines now, ahead of the new fee structure.

Source: Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue 1798, pages أ40–أ46, dated 5 July 2026 (Resolution No. 85 of 2026 signed 25 June 2026).

This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, please contact WEFAQ Law Firm.