Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) has imposed a fine on a financial advisor for providing investment advice without a license.

The market regulator on Monday said it has issued a ruling ordering the violator to pay SAR 250,000 ($66,600) for violating Article 31 of the Capital Market Law and Articles 5 and 17 of Securities Business Regulations, which strictly prohibit offering financial advice for a fee without explicit CMA approval.

The individual had used social media platform Telegram to provide advisory services and X (formerly Twitter) to promote and advertise his services.

The authority said the individual extended his services for a fee between October 2023 and July 2024.

The CMA highlighted that anyone who entered into a contract or paid money to the violator is entitled to file a legal claim either individually or as a class action to rescind their contracts and recover their funds.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria) seban.scaria@lseg.com