Securities Disputes Committee in Saudi Arabia (CRSD): How to File

You bought shares through a Saudi brokerage firm. One morning a sell order you never placed was executed, and you lost SAR 70,000 when the price went back up. You called customer service three times and got the same answer: "the system executed the order". You think about the Najiz portal (the Ministry of Justice e-portal) and the commercial court. But this dispute goes somewhere else, and the road starts at a different door.

The direct answer: disputes that fall within the Capital Market Law and its regulations, both public-right (penal) and private-right (compensation) matters, are heard by the Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes (لجنة الفصل في منازعات الأوراق المالية, often called CRSD), not by the courts (Article 30 of the Capital Market Law, consolidated text published by the Capital Market Authority). The Committee will not accept your statement of claim unless you first filed a complaint with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and 90 days have passed since you filed it, or the CMA has notified you that you may file earlier. Claims are filed online through the platform of the Committees' General Secretariat, and the official service page states the service is free of charge.

What does the Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes decide?

The Capital Market Law gives the Committee jurisdiction over disputes within the scope of the Law, its implementing regulations, and the regulations and rules of the CMA, the Exchange, the depository centre and the clearing centre, in public and private rights. It can investigate, summon witnesses, order documents to be produced, award compensation, or order that the situation be restored to what it was. It also hears grievances against decisions and actions of the CMA and the Exchange (Article 30).

The Companies Law settles the question for listed companies: civil and criminal claims and disputes arising from the Companies Law that concern a joint stock company listed on the Saudi market go to this Committee; everything else goes to the competent court (Article 266 of the Companies Law). Typical cases:

• A buy or sell order executed without your authorisation, or differently from your instruction.
• A portfolio manager who departed from the agreed strategy or ignored product suitability.
• A prospectus or announcement of a listed company that contained an untrue material statement.
• A person who managed your money or gave you securities advice without a CMA licence.
• A challenge to a general assembly resolution of a listed joint stock company, or a claim against its board members.

Which disputes does the Committee not hear?

Not every dispute involving an investor's money belongs here. The line is the scope of the Capital Market Law and its regulations:

• A crypto platform or fake trading website that took your money by deception: this is normally a financial fraud report and follows the criminal route.
• A dispute about your bank account or personal finance: the bank first, then the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and the banking disputes committees.
• A dispute between partners in an unlisted company, or a claim against the manager of a limited liability company: the commercial court (Article 266(1) of the Companies Law).
• Securities listed or traded on a regulated market outside Saudi Arabia: the Law states they are not subject to its provisions, even if the order was sent from inside the Kingdom, except as the CMA agrees with foreign authorities.

Who can file a claim with the Committee?

Anyone harmed by a breach of the Capital Market Law or its regulations: an individual investor, a company, or a capital market institution in a dispute with its client, Saudi or foreign. The General Secretariat's e-services are open to citizens, GCC nationals, investors and foreigners. Public-right cases, such as price manipulation and insider trading, are referred by the CMA to the Public Prosecution, and the criminal case is heard by the same Committee.

The Securities Disputes Resolution Proceedings Regulations (لائحة إجراءات الفصل في منازعات الأوراق المالية) require capital market institutions and joint stock companies to appear through a lawyer or a licensed legal representative (Article 5 of the Regulations). An individual investor can file the claim personally from their own account on the platform.

Do I have to complain to the CMA before filing?

Yes, and this is where many early filings fail. No statement of claim may be filed with the Committee unless a complaint was first filed with the CMA and 90 days have passed since filing, unless the CMA notifies the complainant that they may go to the Committee earlier (Article 30 of the Law, Article 2 of the Regulations). The complaint is filed through the investor protection page of the CMA website. Its number is what you will later enter on the Committee platform, because the claim must have the same subject and parties as the complaint.

If your dispute is with a decision of the CMA itself, the route is a grievance filed with the CMA within 60 days from the date you learned of the decision (Article 3 of the Regulations). If it is rejected, or 90 days pass with no decision, you have 90 days to take the grievance to the Committee, counted from the date you learned of the rejection or the end of that period; otherwise you lose this route (Article 4 of the Regulations).

What is the time limit for a compensation claim over shares?

For private-right claims based on Articles 55, 56 and 57 of the Law (a misleading prospectus, an untrue statement, manipulation and insider trading), the claim will not be heard if the complaint was filed with the CMA more than one year after the date on which you are presumed to have become aware of the facts that made you believe you were a victim, unless the defendant acknowledges the right or the Committee accepts your excuse. In no case is it heard more than five years after the violation occurred (Article 58 of the Law, Article 10 of the Regulations).

So the clock starts on the day the truth became known to you, not on the day you bought. Record that day: the date of the announcement, the account statement, or the message that revealed the problem.

How do I file online and what do I attach?

1. File the complaint with the CMA and keep its number and filing date.
2. After 90 days, or once the CMA notifies you, open the e-services of the General Secretariat of the Committees for Resolution of Securities Disputes. Individuals and lawyers log in through the National Single Sign-On (Nafath).
3. Choose the service "Submit a claim" (تقديم دعوى), enter the complaint number, then the full details of the defendant: name, ID number or unified national number, and address.
4. Write the facts in date order, state your request as a clear amount with how you calculated it, attach the documents and submit.
5. Follow the claim until it is registered. The Regulations provide for proceedings through the electronic litigation platform, including remote hearings and exchange of memoranda (Articles 78 and 79 of the Regulations).

Attachments the General Secretariat asks for:

• National ID or residence permit (iqama), a passport for non-Saudis, and the company's unified national number.
• Everything that supports your claim: account opening or portfolio management agreement, trade statements, order log, call recordings, messages.
• A certified translation from a licensed translation office for any document not in Arabic.
• The power of attorney and the lawyer's licence or proof of legal representation if an agent files for you.

If the statement of claim is incomplete, the General Secretariat will notify you and you have ten days to complete it. Any means of proof is accepted in securities cases, including electronic data, phone recordings and email, and the Committee must start hearing the case within 14 days of filing (Article 30). Its decision can be appealed to the Appeal Committee within 30 days of notification.

An investor in Jeddah has a portfolio worth SAR 400,000 with a brokerage firm. On 3 February, 10,000 shares were sold from his portfolio without his order; the firm says the order came from his account. He filed a complaint with the CMA on 10 February and attached his account login history, which shows no login that day.

Ninety days passed with no settlement. He logged in to the platform, entered the complaint number and filed a claim for the difference between the sale price and the price at which he bought the shares back after discovering the sale. The claim rests on an unauthorised transaction; the strongest evidence is the order log and the login history, both admissible before the Committee.

This is general information based on the official Arabic texts of Saudi laws, which prevail over any translation. It is not legal advice for your specific case.

Practical steps for both sides

If you are an investor who suffered a loss:

• Ask the firm in writing for the order log and the call recording as soon as you discover the problem.
• File the CMA complaint early: it is a condition of the claim and its date counts in the one-year period.
• State your claim as a specific amount with its calculation, not "fair compensation".
• Keep the claim identical in subject to the complaint, and do not add a party you did not complain about.
• If other investors suffered the same harm, ask about a class action.

If you are a capital market institution or a listed company:

• Answer the client's complaint at the CMA with complete documents; it may end there before reaching the Committee.
• Keep order logs, recordings and suitability records: they are your first defence.
• Appoint a lawyer or licensed legal representative, because you cannot validly appear before the Committee without one.
• If the loss came from market movement rather than a breach, build your defence on that difference with figures.

Dates decide these cases first: the day you found the problem, the day you complained, the day the 90 days end. You can send us your trade statement and your correspondence with the firm on WhatsApp, and we will help you time the complaint and the claim correctly.