Saudi CMA CME-4 (4A and 4B): format, chapters, fees, rule versions

What CME-4 is

CME-4 is the asset management qualification in the Saudi CMA's Capital Market Examinations, the qualification exams the Capital Market Authority (CMA) requires for people registered under the managing activity. 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 certificate (FA CME-4A page).

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

Who needs CME-4

The CMA requires CME-4A and 4B for people registered under the managing activity (CMA announcement, 7 November 2022; CMA CME page; CMA Qualification Examinations Guide). The FA names portfolio managers, fund managers and their investment analysts (FA CME-4B page). Other roles: which CME do I need.

Neither paper needs a prior certificate, so CME-1 isn't required first (FA CME-4A; FA CME-4B). The FA's CME-4B course lists CME-1A and 1B as preceding programmes, but that is course order, not an exam rule (FA CME-4B programme).

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, and this guide follows them: only the compliance route adds 1B.

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.

Format, pass mark and fees

CME-4A has 100 questions in two hours and CME-4B 25 questions in 30 minutes, with pass marks of 70 (70%) and 17 (68%) and fees of SAR 2,100 and SAR 1,700.

A first attempt at both papers costs SAR 3,800. Fees can be reclaimed on HRDF's Hadaf platform only once both papers are passed; claim with the tax invoice, 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 4B 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 CMA's Qualification Examinations Guide has an older fee table that doesn't match the FA's exam pages. It is out of date; go by the FA page.

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 (4A; 4B) 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.

Which rule versions CME-4B tests

The FA publishes no rule on which version of a regulation is examinable (FA exam policy, CISI rules). The latest texts on the CMA's site carry these amendments on their covers:

Neither fund regulation states an effective date: each says it takes effect as set by the approving resolution (Article 113 and Article 55 respectively).

Official pages disagree: The CMA's site still holds the earlier texts of both fund regulations, amended by Resolution 1-54-2025 of 21 May 2025 (real estate funds; investment funds, Arabic), under similar file names. Use the November 2025 texts, and identify a version by the resolution number on its cover, not its file name.

The May 2025 amendment

Resolution 1-54-2025 is the package the CMA announced on 9 July 2025 (CMA announcement):

• Fund units can be sold through fund distribution platforms and e-money institutions.
• New rules on terminating funds and on replacing or withdrawing a fund manager.
• REITs listed on Nomu may invest in development projects.
• Public funds may subscribe to privately offered Saudi debt.
• Money-market and capital-protection funds may hold at most 10% of net assets in one issuer's debt, and 25% in total in one entity.
• Public debt funds must disclose the ratings of their top ten holdings each quarter.
• Retail cash subscriptions in private and foreign funds are capped at 50%.

The November 2025 amendment

The CMA hasn't summarised Resolution 1-135-2025. The current texts limit parallel-market offers of exchange-traded funds, closed-ended traded funds and REITs to qualified investors in the parallel market (investment funds Articles 48(p) and 49(k); real estate funds Article 46(b)), a category the CMA introduced on 26 November 2025 (CMA announcement). So the amendment most likely brought the Nomu reform into the fund rules, though the CMA hasn't confirmed it.

Study material and editions

Each FA exam page links free official study material in Arabic and English. Under the FA's policy, moving to a date covered by newer material makes it a new exam, with the new material (FA exam policy, CISI rules), so study the edition linked for your booked date.

Arabic and English candidates are on different editions at the same time, and CISI hasn't announced the next one (CISI candidate update). The English workbook the FA links is Edition 7, version 7.2 of July 2025 (FA workbook).

The 4B workbook the FA links is Edition 1, 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. It doesn't mention the 2025 amendments to the fund regulations, so check fund-rule details against the November 2025 texts above.

Each workbook ends with a set of practice questions the size of the real paper: 100 for 4A and 25 for 4B. The workbooks say these are for revision and don't necessarily match the exam's standard.

Not published: when the next 4B workbook is due. The current one covers exams only to 31 December 2026, so check the FA page for a new version before you book a 2027 date.

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