In 1984, a Ministerial Committee consisting of Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Ministry of Commerce and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was created to regulate and develop the market. SAMA was additionally charged with the day-to-day regulation of the market. In 1990, a new system was introduced, the Electronic Securities Information System (ESIS), that was developed and operated by SAMA. Tadawul, the new securities trading, clearing and settlements was established in October 2001. Tadawul is managed and organized by the Capital Market Authority, which is a dependant entity financially and administratively.

By the end of 2005, the Saudi Stock Market was ranked the 10th largest market in the world in terms of value traded with a total number of trades came in 10th place at 6,967,500 trades slightly behind the German stock exchange Deutsche Bo ranked in 9th place with 7,459,600 trades, the Canadian TSX Group ranked in 12th place with 5,940,600 trades and London Stock Exchange ranked in 13th place with 5,401,600 trades.

In terms of market capitalization, Tadawul ranked 16th in the world as of December 31, 2005 with a market capitalization of USD 650.18 billion and the 14th in terms of number of trades, just behind Korea Stock Exchange and ahead Bombay, BSE, India, Taiwan, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) for the year 2005 recorded 103.66 percent growth and over SR4.14 trillion traded in the same year. The TASI by the end of 2005 closed at 16,712.64 points compared to 8,206.23 for the year 2004, recording a historical high point at 16,988.08 on Dec.15, 2005.