Saudi CMA CME-1 (1A and 1B): format, chapters, fees, old vs new

What CME-1 is

CME-1 is the general qualification in the Saudi CMA's Capital Market Examinations, the qualification exams the Capital Market Authority (CMA) requires before it registers someone for a general registrable function. The CMA sets the requirement and registers people; the Financial Academy (FA) runs the exams; CISI (the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment) provides the A paper and works with the FA on the B paper (CMA CME page; FA FAQ). The FA's pages say both papers must be passed for the CME 1 certificate (FA CME-1B page).

English names from the CMA's announcement of the series; Arabic names from the CMA's Arabic guide.

Format, pass mark and fees

Each paper has 50 questions in 60 minutes, with a pass mark of 35 (70%) and a fee of SAR 1,100.

A first attempt at both papers costs SAR 2,200. Fees can be reclaimed on HRDF's Hadaf platform only once both papers are passed; claim with the tax invoice from your FA account, not the preliminary invoice (FA FAQ). Booking steps are on the booking page.

Not published: The FA's exam pages give pass marks as raw points, with no question counts; the counts above come from the Examination Specification in each paper's workbook, which the exam page links. No official page says 1B is multiple choice, though every practice question in its workbook is. Whether fees include VAT isn't stated, so check the total at checkout. No expiry date, continuing-education requirement or time limit for passing the second paper is published (Capital Market Institutions Regulations; FA exam policy, CISI rules).

Official pages disagree: The FA's pages for the old CME-1 still show SAR 1,250 a part (old Part 1), and the CMA's Qualification Examinations Guide has an older fee table. Both are out of date; go by the FA's current exam pages.

Chapters and their share of the exam

Each workbook's Examination Specification sets how many questions come from each chapter, and the FA's exam pages (1A; 1B) give the same split as percentages. The workbooks say a chapter's count can move by up to two questions from one paper to the next, so that every paper is equally hard. The chapter names are the workbooks' own.

Study material and editions

Each FA exam page links free official study material in Arabic and English. The FA's policy says CISI exams test the exam specification, not textbooks, and that moving to a date covered by newer material makes it a new exam, with the new material (FA exam policy, CISI rules). Study the edition linked for your booked date.

• CME-1A in English: the FA links CISI's Edition 18 (workbook version 18.1, June 2025), which says it covers exams from 10 September 2025 to 9 September 2026 (FA workbook).
• CME-1A in Arabic: CISI lists Version 18 for exams from 11 January 2026 to 10 January 2027, with an erratum posted on 10 November 2025 (CISI candidate update).
• CME-1B: the FA links Edition 1, workbook version 1.10 (August 2026), for exams from 1 February 2023 to 31 December 2026 (FA workbook). Edition 1 was first published in October 2022.
• Practice questions: each workbook ends with a set of practice questions the size of the real paper, 50 for 1A and 50 for 1B. The workbooks say these are for revision and don't necessarily match the exam's standard.
• Rule changes: the FA doesn't say which version of a regulation is examinable. For amendments that touch 1B, see what's changed.

Not published: when the FA will link newer workbooks. The English 1A workbook's exam window ended on 9 September 2026 and the 1B workbook's ends on 31 December 2026, so check the FA page for a new edition before you book. CISI's e-learning editions chart still lists edition 12 and is out of date.

Who needs CME-1

The CMA requires CME-1A and 1B for general registrable functions. Its full mapping, unchanged since 2023 (CMA announcement, 7 November 2022; CMA CME page; CMA Qualification Examinations Guide):

The FA defines the general group by exclusion: everyone registering in any job category except compliance and AML/CFT officers, securities brokers, people registering under the managing activity and corporate finance specialists (FA CME-1A page). Neither paper needs a prior certificate or an academic qualification. Role by role: which CME do I need.

Official pages disagree: One text extraction of the CMA guide's table adds CME-1B to the managing activity. The CMA's announcement, its CME page and the FA's pages don't; this guide follows them.

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.

Old CME-1 versus the new 1A and 1B

For registration, CME-1A and 1B replaced the old two-part CME-1 on 1 February 2023, when the new series became mandatory (CMA announcement). Holders of the old certificate can still register without sitting the new papers (CMA CME page).

Old-exam details are from the FA's Part 1 and Part 2 pages, still online with a Register button and no notice that the series changed. The CMA's 2018 CME-1 study material, a 2010 Arab News article and Wikipedia's list of securities examinations also describe the old exam and are out of date.

Not published: No FA or CMA page says whether the old Part 1 and Part 2 can still be booked, or by whom. If you need CME-1 to be registered, book CME-1A and 1B.

CME-1 and Nomu

CME-1 is one route into Nomu, the parallel market. The FA's CME-1 pages say the CME 1 certificate qualifies its holder to invest there, and the CMA's Glossary lists "the General Securities Qualification Certificate which is recognised by the Authority" among five criteria for an individual Qualified Investor in the Parallel Market (CMA Glossary, March 2026). The other routes are on CME-1 and Nomu.

Opening Bell's practice questions and timed mocks follow these formats.