Saudi CMA qualification exams (CME): the complete guide

What the CME is

The CME is the set of qualification exams the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) requires before it registers someone to perform a registrable function at a capital market institution, such as fund manager, investment adviser or compliance officer. Article 21(d) of the Capital Market Institutions Regulations says an applicant "must have passed the qualification examinations required by the Authority, or secured an exemption from the Authority from such requirement".

The current series, approved by the CMA's Board in October 2022 (CMA Qualification Examinations Guide), has been held, and mandatory, since 1 February 2023 (CMA announcement, 7 November 2022). Its ten papers form five qualifications. Each pairs an A paper, which is a CISI international certificate, with a B paper on Saudi capital market rules. People who passed a CME before 2023 can still register without the new exams (CMA CME page).

Who does what

The CMA sets the requirement and registers people; the Financial Academy (FA) runs the exams, including booking, fees, centres, study material, policy and Hadaf; CISI provides the A papers and works with the FA on the B papers (CMA CME page; FA FAQ). The FA's exam pages are in Arabic, even at their English addresses.

Official pages disagree: One reading of the hard-to-extract table in the CMA's guide PDF names the CMA as the provider of the B papers. The FA's exam pages name the FA, working with CISI, and this guide follows them.

The ten papers

Time, pass mark and fee come from each paper's FA page, linked in the first column; question counts come from each paper's FA workbook. Every paper is offered in Arabic and English. You sit them in person at one of five FA test centres (FA Testing Centres). The Hadaf column shows whether the FA page or the FA exam catalogue says the fee can be reclaimed through HRDF's Hadaf platform, which pays only once both papers of a qualification are passed (booking and fees).

Where the counts come from: The FA's exam pages give pass marks as raw points, with no question counts. Each paper's count is in the Examination Specification at the back of its FA workbook, and each workbook ends with a set of practice questions of the same size (1A; 1B; 2A; 2B; 3A; 3B; 4A; 4B; 5A; 5B). The CME-3A workbook the FA links leaves out its Examination Specification page, so its 100 comes from the 100-question practice paper at its end, which fits the paper's 120 minutes and pass mark of 70. On these counts every paper allows 72 seconds a question, and the pass mark is 70% for the A papers and CME-1B, and 68% (17 of 25) for 2B, 3B, 4B and 5B.

Official names

These are the CMA's official names (CMA announcement; CMA guide, English; CMA guide, Arabic).

Official pages disagree: The CMA CME page shortens CME-2B's English name to "Saudi Capital Market Rules and Regulations – Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering". The CMA's guide and its 2022 announcement give the full name used here.

Who needs which

The "Needed for" column follows the CMA's announcement (CMA announcement). For the managing activity (asset management) that is CME-4A and CME-4B, and only the compliance and AML/CFT route needs three papers. The FA's exam pages say no prior certificate is needed (FA CME-4B page). Which CME do I need? covers each role, CME-1 versus CME-4, and why there is no grace period for new hires.

In practice: many firms also expect staff in asset management to hold CME-1, and anyone registered for more than one function, such as managing and advising, needs the exams for each. Under the exams in use before February 2023, people registering for asset management roles also took the old CME-1 (the Financial Academy's page on the old CME-1 still describes an exemption for those registering for CME-4 and CME-5), which is why many managers hold both. Check with your firm's compliance officer.

What a full qualification costs

The totals are for one attempt at each paper at the fees above. Every attempt is paid for, including retakes (FA exam policy). No CME page says whether VAT is included, so check the total at checkout.

Official pages disagree: The FA's legacy pages for the old CME-1 still show SAR 1,250 a part (FA, old CME-1 Part 1), and the CMA's guide has an older fee table. Both are out of date; the fees here come from the FA's current exam pages.

Recent changes

The papers and the role mapping haven't changed since 2023, but the rules the B papers test have. Recent changes include:

• 2 March 2026: the Glossary of Defined Terms, used across the B papers, amended by Resolution 1-26-2026.
• 7 January 2026: the Capital Market Institutions Regulations, tested in CME-1B and 2B, amended for robo-advisory by Resolution 2-3-2026.
• 24 November 2025: the Investment Funds and Real Estate Investment Funds Regulations, 88% of CME-4B's weight (FA CME-4B page), amended for the second time in 2025 by Resolution 1-135-2025.

CISI's window for the Arabic CME-1A study text closes on 10 January 2027, and the one for the English CME-4A text on 1 March 2027 (CISI candidate update). All five B-paper workbooks the FA links cover exams only to 31 December 2026 (for example 1B and 4B), and a new CME-2A edition, CISI's Global Financial Compliance Edition 12, covers exams from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2028 (2A workbook). The full log is on what's changed.

How this guide checks its facts

Every fee, pass mark, duration, date and rule links to its source: the CMA, the FA or CISI wherever they publish it, and a named third party only where they don't. Each page shows when its facts were last checked. Where official pages disagree, the guide shows both and says which it follows; where nothing is published, it says so. A page's updated date changes only when one of its facts changes. Opening Bell is independent of the CMA, the Financial Academy and CISI, and nothing in this guide is official.

Guide pages

• Which CME do I need?
• CME-1: 1A and 1B, and the old Part 1 and Part 2
• CME-4: 4A and 4B
• Booking, fees, Hadaf and rescheduling
• Exam day, retakes and results
• What's changed
• How hard is it, and how long to study
• CME-1 and investing in Nomu

Opening Bell's practice questions and timed mocks for CME-1 and CME-4 follow the formats above.