Investors rigged Watani Iron Steel shares around its Nomu debut — SR45.9m clawed back

In February 2021 Watani Iron Steel became the second company to direct-list on Saudi Arabia's Nomu parallel market, under symbol 9513. Around that listing, five investors built positions and traded in ways the regulator later ruled were manipulation, pumping the share price and hiding how much ownership they had accumulated.

In April 2024 the Appeal Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes (ACRSD) convicted the five, fining them SR3.5m and ordering four investors plus a company owned by one of them to hand back SR41.4m in illegal gains. One investor used WhatsApp to push the share price; the Alrajhi family failed to disclose increased holdings.

In July 2025 the CMA announced that compensation for harmed investors was complete, paid through a compensation fund established under Article 59 of the Capital Market Law. Some investors received more than SR1m, the highest amount the committee had approved.

ACRSD fined the five SR3.5m and ordered SR41.4m in illegal gains repaid — SR45.9m total, with harmed investors compensated up to over SR1m each.

A direct listing has no offering price, so early trades set the market — thin liquidity makes it easy to distort.

Holdings accumulated above disclosure thresholds and social-media price chatter left a traceable record.

Illegal gains were traced through investment portfolios years after the trading, not merely fined.

Compensation came from the violators' own clawed-back gains, not from the state.

A thin parallel-market stock is easy to pump, but regulators trace holdings and social posts years later and claw back every gain — disclosure limits and price chatter do not stay hidden.

The ACRSD decision was published on 4 April 2024 after a penal lawsuit filed by the Public Prosecution and referred by the CMA. The CMA then invoked Article 59 of the Capital Market Law, set up a compensation fund, and completed payouts in July 2025, including sums above SR1m for some investors. Watani Iron Steel kept trading on Nomu and later applied to move to the Main Market.