Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah issued a decree on February 5th to relieve Dr. Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al-Tuwaijri, President of Capital Market Authority (CMA), of his post; and appointed Mohammed bin Abdulmalik bin Abdullah Al Al-Shiekh as CMA President at the rank of Minister, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Today in the Wall Street Journal, Summer Said and Asa Fitch report that the appointment “is a move that is likely to accelerate” the opening of the TASI. Said and Fitch cite an unnamed executive at a Riyadh-listed firm, who credited Al-Tuwaijri with restoring confidence in the stock exchange but also noted that the regulatory framework around opening the TASI “needed more serious and speedy attention.”

The now former minister Al-Tuwaijri has an impressive resume. Prior to his appointment at the CMA, he was the Secretary General of the Supreme Economic Council, Executive Director for Saudi Arabia at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., and also served as the Economic Adviser to the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council.  He started his career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at King Saud University, according to his biography.

As Hussein Abusaaq wrote in a SUSTG Analysis item on this subject, the opening the Saudi Stock Market remains no easy task.

The new minister, Mohammad bin Abdulmalek al-Sheikh, has been appointed from the World Bank, and is a Harvard-educated lawyer.

UPDATE: According to his biography, HE Mohammed Al-Sheikh was elected as the Executive Director, member of the Boards of Directors at the World Bank representing Saudi Arabia, on September 24, 2012.

“Al-Sheikh is an experienced transactional lawyer whose practice focuses on M&A, capital markets, project finance, restructuring, banking and general finance matters. Al-Sheikh has nearly two decades of experience representing sovereign wealth funds, government bodies, banks and other businesses located or operating in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. He has particularly deep experience working in the energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, technology, real estate and financial services sectors. A recognized leader in Islamic finance, he has published and lectured extensively on Sharia-compliant banking and finance law,” according to Al-Sheikh’s bio on Latham & Watkins LLP. (h/t Turki al Hugail)

[Read More from the Wall Street Journal]

SEE ALSO: Opening the TASI: What You Need to Know