CMA Registered Functions: Which Exam Does Each Need | Hespah LLC [Skip to main content](#main-content)[![Hespah LLC](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/home_logolight_file2png.webp)](/en)Search More [Home](/en) [Learning Hub](/en/courses) [About us](https://hespah.com/who-we-are) [Blog](/en/blog) [Contact Us](/en/contact) Login[New Account](/en/register) 1. [Home](/en) / 2. [Blog](/en/blog) / 3. CMA Registered Functions: Which Exam Does Each Need CMA Registered Functions: Which Exam Does Each Need =================================================== 2026-10-20 / 6 days ago One table in the CMA guideline for qualification exams settles the question that follows everyone approaching a Saudi capital market institution: which exam do I need? It ties the five registered functions to ten exams, and hides one detail most candidates miss, at a cost of 1,100 riyals. What are the registered functions at the CMA? --------------------------------------------- Registered functions are the roles whose holder must register with the Capital Market Authority before performing them inside a capital market institution. The guideline limits them to five: general registered functions, compliance and AML/CFT, securities brokers, persons registered under the management activity, and corporate finance specialists. Each of these registered functions carries named exams with fixed codes. Therefore, start from your job title as it will appear in the registration application, then read the row that matches it. The legal basis that links registered functions to exams -------------------------------------------------------- Paragraph (d) of Article 21 of the Capital Market Institutions Regulations, under "registration application requirements", states that "the registration applicant shall pass the qualification exams required by the Authority unless exempted". Therefore the exam precedes registration, and registration precedes the work itself. The Saudi Capital Market Authority first approved these exams on 21/5/1426H, corresponding to 28/6/2005. In October 2022 it approved the new package, developed with the Financial Academy and the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. The guideline also names the reason: changes in the capital market regulations, and developments in global markets. The five registered functions and their exams --------------------------------------------- Registered function Exams Required exams General registered functions 2 Introduction to Securities and Investment, international curriculum (CME-1A) + Saudi capital market rules and regulations, general module (CME-1B) Compliance, AML and counter-terrorist financing 3 General module (CME-1B) + International Financial Compliance (CME-2A) + Saudi capital market rules and regulations, compliance and AML/CFT (CME-2B) Securities brokers 2 Securities (CME-3A) + Saudi capital market rules and regulations, securities brokers (CME-3B) Persons registered under the management activity 2 International Certificate in Wealth and Investment Management (CME-4A) + Saudi capital market rules and regulations, asset managers (CME-4B) Corporate finance specialists 2 Technical Foundations of Corporate Finance (CME-5A) + Saudi capital market rules and regulations, corporate finance (CME-5B) The phrase "management activity" sounds loose, although the guideline names who falls under it: fund managers, investment portfolio managers, and investment analysts working in asset and portfolio management. Therefore anyone holding one of those titles reads the management row, not the general row. Likewise, the guideline ties CME-5A and CME-5B to the corporate finance specialist title by name. ![Exams per registered function: two each, three for the compliance function](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17925170130.jpeg "Exams per registered function: two each, three for the compliance function") Why does compliance need three exams? ------------------------------------- Compliance is the only row demanding three exams among the registered functions. The Authority added the general module (CME-1B) on top of the compliance pair, because a compliance officer has to know the market framework before the specialism. The content of that general module explains the addition: the Securities Business Regulations, the Capital Market Institutions Regulations, prohibited conduct, and supervisory systems and procedures. Here sits the detail most candidates miss. CME-1B is the only exam appearing in two of the five functions. As a result, adding up the exam counts in the table gives eleven, while the distinct exams number only ten. Technical exams versus regulatory exams --------------------------------------- The guideline labels every exam as technical or regulatory, and that label identifies its provider. Firstly, the technical exams carry the letter A and come from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. Their content is international: asset classes, primary and secondary markets, clearing and settlement, financial statement analysis, capital structure, and business valuation methods. Regulatory exams carry the letter B, and their content is the Authority's own rulebooks. For example, CME-3B covers the Market Conduct Regulations, including the ban on manipulation, misleading practices, and insider trading. Similarly, CME-4B covers the Investment Funds Regulations and the Real Estate Investment Funds Regulations. CME-5B covers the rules on offers of securities and continuing obligations, the Merger and Acquisition Regulations, and the Corporate Governance Regulations. The split matters when you prepare. A technical paper is general capital markets knowledge that travels anywhere, so it rewards understanding. A regulatory paper, however, is a set of specific Saudi rulebooks, and it shifts whenever the Authority amends them. Exam fees for the registered functions -------------------------------------- The guideline publishes a fee for every exam in two cases: first registration and re-registration. The table below totals each full function in Saudi riyals. Registered function First registration Re-registration General registered functions 2,200 1,600 Compliance, AML and counter-terrorist financing 3,600 2,850 Securities brokers 2,500 1,900 Persons registered under the management activity 2,500 1,900 Corporate finance specialists 2,400 1,720 The compliance figure is the one you will not find ready-made in the guideline, because its fee table prices pairs rather than registered functions. It shows the compliance pair at 2,500 riyals, while the function obliges its holder to sit a third exam. Add the CME-1B fee of 1,100 riyals to 1,600 for CME-2A and 900 for CME-2B, and the path reaches 3,600 riyals. That is the most expensive route among the five. CME-1B also stands alone on price among the regulatory exams. Every other regulatory exam costs 900 riyals at first registration and 700 on re-registration, whereas CME-1B costs 1,100 and 950. The most widely shared exam is the dearest in its class. ![Fees per registered function in riyals, with compliance the dearest route](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17925170131.jpeg "Fees per registered function in riyals, with compliance the dearest route") The new package holds eight exams, not ten ------------------------------------------ The package approved in October 2022 to serve the registered functions contains eight exams: 1. Introduction to Securities and Investment, international curriculum (CME-1A) 2. Saudi capital market rules and regulations, general module (CME-1B) 3. International Financial Compliance (CME-2A) 4. Saudi capital market rules and regulations, compliance and AML/CFT (CME-2B) 5. Securities (CME-3A) 6. Saudi capital market rules and regulations, securities brokers (CME-3B) 7. Saudi capital market rules and regulations, asset managers (CME-4B) 8. Saudi capital market rules and regulations, corporate finance (CME-5B) The International Certificate in Wealth and Investment Management (CME-4A) and the Technical Foundations of Corporate Finance (CME-5A) came earlier, and the guideline states that both continue. Therefore ten exams serve the registered functions, even though the new package counts eight. Who is exempt from the new version? ----------------------------------- The guideline answers this plainly. Everyone holding the previous version of the qualification exams qualifies to register according to each function's requirements, without taking the new version. The Authority explained the choice as support for the sector while the market absorbs the changes. Therefore anyone who passed the earlier version keeps what they have. Entry conditions for the exams ------------------------------ The guideline sets no academic qualification for these exams, and its answer on that question is two words: "none exists". The exams are open to Saudis and non-Saudis alike. An electronic copy of the study material sits on the exam pages of the Financial Academy website. How to identify your exam in three steps ---------------------------------------- 1. Fix your job title as it will appear in the registration application, not as colleagues use it internally. 2. Read your row in the registered functions table, and note the exam count and codes. 3. Total your fees from the fee table before booking, and check the published figure on the registration page at the moment of payment. Anyone working in compliance needs a fourth step: confirming that CME-1B sits inside the plan, because it is the easiest to overlook and the dearest in its class. Frequently asked questions about registered functions ----------------------------------------------------- ### Is one exam enough to register in any function? No. The shortest path is two exams, and the longest is three, in the compliance and AML/CFT function. ### Does a broker sit the same exams as an asset manager? No. A broker sits [CME-3A and CME-3B](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-3b-exam-saudi-brokers), while a person registered under the management activity sits [CME-4A and CME-4B](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-4b-exam-asset-managers). Neither path substitutes for the other. ### Does CME-1B count twice when moving into a compliance role? The table lists CME-1B under both functions by the same name. However, each candidate's position rests on what the Authority decides in the registration application, since the reference is paragraph (d) of Article 21. ### How do first registration and re-registration fees differ? Re-registration costs less on every exam. For example, the [corporate finance specialist](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-5b-exam-corporate-finance) route drops from 2,400 riyals to 1,720. ### Is a finance degree required? The guideline sets no academic requirement. Therefore the measure stays the exams your function demands, among them the [compliance](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-2b-exam-saudi-compliance) papers for anyone working in that field. Sources ------- - [Guideline for the CMA qualification exams](https://cma.gov.sa/AboutCMA/CME/Documents/CMEExamsGuidelineAR.pdf), Capital Market Authority: the table of exams required by registered function, and the fee table. - [CMA qualification exams page](https://cma.gov.sa/AboutCMA/CME/Pages/default.aspx), Capital Market Authority. At Hespah Academy we track updates to the qualification exams and build our training material on them. *This article is for general information only. It does not replace reviewing the official sources or consulting a specialist before taking any action.* Articles you might like ----------------------- [![Management Discussion in the Board Report: the CMA Draft](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/249/conversions/cover-sm.webp)2026-10-24 ### Management Discussion in the Board Report: the CMA Draft The CMA draft requires a separate management discussion section in listed companies' annual Board report. Consultation c](/en/blog/cma-mdna-disclosure-draft)[![CMA Certification for a Saudi Accountant: Rules and Fees](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/246/conversions/cover-sm.webp)2026-10-24 ### CMA Certification for a Saudi Accountant: Rules and Fees CMA certification for Saudi accountants: membership, degree and experience rules, the fees, case-based questions from Se](/en/blog/cma-certification-saudi-accountant)[![CMA Auditor Rules Amended: What Changed](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/224/conversions/cover-sm.webp)2026-10-24 ### CMA Auditor Rules Amended: What Changed Umm Al-Qura published the amended CMA auditor rules on 23 October 2026: who is covered, registration conditions, ongoing](/en/blog/cma-auditor-rules-2026)[![SOCPA Fellowship Exam: Entry Rules, Papers and Fees](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/204/conversions/cover-sm.webp)2026-10-22 ### SOCPA Fellowship Exam: Entry Rules, Papers and Fees A full guide to the SOCPA fellowship exam in 2026: entry rules, the six subjects and eight papers, fees in riyals, exemp](/en/blog/socpa-fellowship-exam-guide)[![SOCPA Amends Professional Exam Eligibility: Students In](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/200/conversions/cover-sm.webp)2026-10-20 ### SOCPA Amends Professional Exam Eligibility: Students In SOCPA amended the SOCPA professional exams eligibility rules on 18 October 2026: accounting students can sit four certif](/en/blog/socpa-professional-exams-eligibility) [![Hespah LLC](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/home_logolight_file2png.webp)](/en)Tax and Accounting Professional Training [Hespah ](/en)[Courses](/en/courses)[Blog](/en/blog)[Contact us](/en/contact)[Partners & Discounts](https://hespah.com/partners) [Policies ](https://hespah.com/privacy-policy)[Privacy Policy](https://hespah.com/privacy-policy)[Usage and Refund Policy](https://hespah.com/refund-policy) ### Contact us New Castle, DE, 19720 US ### Follow us [](https://www.facebook.com/HespahCo)[](https://www.instagram.com/hespahco)[](https://www.linkedin.com/company/hespahco/)[](https://x.com/hespahco)[](https://www.tiktok.com/@hespahco) ### Payment methods Visa Mastercard Apple Pay All Rights Reserved Hespah LLC © 2026 , Developed by [10 - Ashara](https://10ashara.com)