Saudi Arabia’s capital market regulators has received enquiries from several GCC companies to cross-list their shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), the region’s largest bourse by market capitalisation, according to a senior executive of Capital Market Authority (CMA).

The Riyadh-based regulator, expects at least one GCC company to list its shares on Tadawul this year, Yarub Awadh Albadi, the head of initial public offering unit at CMA said at the an IPO summit in Dubai, without naming the companies.

“We have been contacted by more than one GCC companies for listings,” Albadi said. The interest the CMA has received is from large regional companies listed else were on six primary equities markets in the GCC, he later told reporters, adding that the firms have yet to file their IPO applications and it difficult to predict the timing of the listings.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest GCC economy is pushing to attract more listings on its equities market and boost foreign investment in bourse. The kingdom also launched a parallel market known as Nomu on 26 February, which is designed to attract listings by and small to medium-sized businesses, requiring a a minimum market value of SR10m ($2.67), minimum shareholder size of 35-50 shareholders, and an offering of at least 20 per cent of its shares.

The firms listed on new platform have lesser disclosure requirements and they can file an application to migrate to the main bourse after completing two years of listing on Nomu, Albadi said.