​The Capital Market Authority announces the amendment on the announcement period for the interim financial statements (Quarterly) and annual statements for the fiscal periods starting from or after 1/1/2017. The period is amended to 30 business days instead of 15 for the interim financial statements and three months instead of 75 days for the annual financial statements.

Based on the announcement, the issuer should provide CMA and announce to the shareholders the interim financial statements once approved and in a period not exceeding 30 days by the end of the fiscal period mentioned in those statements. Furthermore, the issuer should provide CMA and announce to the shareholders the annual financial statements once approved and in a period not exceeding three months from the end of the annual financial period mentioned in those statements.

The Authority explained that these amendments are based on the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants' board decision to implement the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on listed companies financial statements for the fiscal periods starting on or after 1/1/2017. Since the disclosure requirements and the external auditor's report with a disclaimer of opinion are – based on the international accounting standards- more than what is required in the current applied standards and to insure the accuracy and integrity of the financial information, therefore, the period to announce the interim and annual financial statements is extended.

This extension is compatible with most of the international practices and experiences of countries in the process of switching to the application of international accounting standards.

CMA explained that this amendment comes as part of its role in regulating and monitoring the businesses and activities of the entities under its supervision and to regulate and monitor the full disclosure on the information relating to securities and their issuers.