The Capital Market Authority is preparing new rules to encourage family businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enter capital markets. It is also exploring fractional sukuk and digital investment platforms to expand retail investor participation.
The UAE’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) is planning to set up an Investor Protection Fund and introduce additional safeguards for exceptional market conditions as part of its efforts to boost investor confidence and encourage wider participation in the country’s capital markets.
The proposed changes will also cover improvements to procedures for handling complaints and appeals, as well as mechanisms for amicable settlements, CMA chief executive Waleed Saeed Al Awadhi said.
The regulator is also exploring a framework for retail and fractional sukuk, which could give residents access to fixed-income investment opportunities with smaller amounts of capital.
“Protecting retail investors requires more than regulatory enforcement. It means ensuring investors have access to reliable information, understand the risks they are taking and have effective channels to raise concerns when things go wrong,” Al Awadhi said.
During the first nine months of 2026, the CMA organised 224 investor awareness activities, including five dedicated campaigns aimed at improving financial literacy and helping investors recognise potential market risks.
The authority also registered 88 new financial influencers during the period, bringing the total number of registered influencers to 198 by the end of September. It refunded approximately Dh1.2 billion to clients over the same nine-month period.
Enforcement and market supervision
Alongside investor education and compensation measures, the regulator is stepping up efforts to detect and address market misconduct, including manipulation, insider trading, misleading financial disclosures and investment fraud.
Financial penalties imposed by the CMA totalled Dh12.9 million in the first nine months of 2026, Al Awadhi said.
The authority applies a Unified Risk-Based Supervisory Framework to evaluate licensed firms across several areas, including financial resilience, corporate governance, market conduct, regulatory compliance and operational effectiveness.
The risk-based approach enables the regulator to focus its oversight on areas of greater concern and identify potential compliance issues at an earlier stage.
“ our focus is on timely intervention, effective enforcement and ensuring that those responsible for violations are held accountable. The aim is to deter misconduct and safeguard investors, rather than simply increase the number of penalties issued,” he said.
The CMA did not reveal how many investigations it conducted or the number of individual enforcement actions taken during the period.
Three priorities for 2027
The authority has outlined three key priorities for 2027: strengthening investor protection, expanding market access and advancing digital transformation.
Alongside the proposed Investor Protection Fund and additional safeguards, the CMA is working on regulations covering systemically important entities, the division of public joint stock companies and instant licensing. Draft regulations are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
As part of its digital transformation efforts, the regulator is streamlining licensing and regulatory services while exploring the use of artificial intelligence to enhance supervision, accelerate processing and detect emerging risks at an earlier stage.
Family businesses and SMEs
The CMA is also seeking to expand funding opportunities for family-owned businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the capital markets, while maintaining governance and disclosure standards.
It is preparing resolutions to regulate private placements of securities by private joint stock companies and businesses operating in free zones. Subject to final approval and implementation, the proposed rules would give companies additional financing options, particularly those not yet ready to pursue a public listing.
In 2027, the authority also intends to review regulations governing securities offerings and issuers, including foreign issuers, as well as the categories and classes of securities that companies can issue. The review aims to identify ways to broaden market access and cater to different financing needs.
“For family businesses and SMEs, the objective is to provide appropriate pathways to capital market financing while ensuring companies are prepared for the responsibilities of public ownership,” Al Awadhi said.
