Which markets are covered?

SouqData covers 11 exchanges across the GCC + MENA region: Saudi Tadawul (TDWL), Dubai Financial Market (DFM), Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), Boursa Kuwait (BK), Muscat Securities Market (MSX), Bahrain Bourse (BHB), Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), Borsa Istanbul (BIST), Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX), and Egyptian Exchange (EGX). Coverage depth varies by exchange and is shown per-page.

How current is this data?

Underlying data refreshes daily via an automated pipeline (governance recompute, screener materialised view refresh, disclosure timeliness backfill). Source-data ingestion (annual reports, board changes, dividend declarations) runs on per-exchange cadences depending on filing patterns.

How do GCC stock exchanges compare on corporate governance?

SouqData scores governance across 8 dimensions for each exchange: board independence, board size, CEO/Chair separation, meeting attendance, auditor independence, credential density, committee coverage, and pay transparency. Exchange averages reveal systemic differences in governance culture.

Which GCC exchange has the best corporate governance?

Governance quality varies by exchange and depends on regulatory framework, enforcement, and corporate culture. The cross-exchange comparison page ranks exchanges by composite governance score and identifies dimension-level strengths and weaknesses.

What this page covers

Compare corporate governance standards across all GCC stock exchanges. Exchange-level scoring, regulatory framework differences, and governance dimension analysis for DFM, ADX, ASE, Boursa Kuwait, QSE, MSX, BHB, and Tadawul.

SouqData covers 11 GCC + MENA exchanges (TDWL, DFM, ADX, QSE, BK, MSX, BHB, ASE, BIST, ISX, EGX). Coverage depth varies by exchange and data category — gaps are surfaced in the page's data displays rather than hidden. Underlying data refreshes daily via an automated pipeline; per-exchange ingestion runs on filing-driven cadences.

Cross-Exchange Governance Comparison

Name: GCC Corporate Governance Dataset
Creator: SouqData
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Compare corporate governance standards across GCC stock exchanges. Exchange-level averages, regulatory frameworks, and governance dimension analysis reveal where governance culture is strongest and where systemic gaps exist.

Exchanges Compared

11/11

with governance data

Companies Scored

919

across all exchanges

GCC Average

55/100

composite score

Score Spread

58pts

between best and worst

Exchange Rankings

#	Exchange	Country	Avg Score	Grade	Scored	Total	A	B	C	D	F
1	Muscat Securities MarketMSX	Oman	84	A	79	85	60	14	5	-	-
2	Egyptian ExchangeEGX	Egypt	61	C	14	252	3	1	5	5	-
3	Abu Dhabi Securities ExchangeADX	UAE	60	C	67	98	3	20	32	12	-
4	Bahrain BourseBHB	Bahrain	59	C	15	17	2	4	4	4	1
5	Qatar Stock ExchangeQSE	Qatar	57	C	54	55	-	10	33	11	-
6	Saudi Exchange (Tadawul)TDWL	Saudi Arabia	53	C	383	385	20	94	110	102	57
7	Dubai Financial MarketDFM	UAE	52	C	50	70	1	12	20	7	10
8	Amman Stock ExchangeASE	Jordan	50	C	139	205	2	24	25	85	3
9	Boursa KuwaitBK	Kuwait	47	D	87	136	2	13	16	43	13
10	Iraq Stock ExchangeISX	Iraq	43	D	2	102	-	-	-	2	-
11	Borsa IstanbulBIST	Turkey	26	F	29	568	-	-	3	4	22

Governance Dimensions by Exchange

Heatmap showing average performance on each governance dimension per exchange. Darker green indicates stronger performance; red indicates systemic weakness.

Exchange	Board IndependenceIndep	Board SizeSize	CEO/Chair SeparationSep	Meeting AttendanceAttend	Auditor IndependenceAudit	Credential DensityCred	Committee CoverageComm	Pay TransparencyPay
MSXOman	18.5/20	5.9/10	9.9/10	0.0/15	5.7/10	1.1/10	0.0/15	0.6/10
EGXEgypt	7.1/20	2.1/10	6.8/10	0.0/15	5.1/10	1.0/10	0.0/15	0.4/10
ADXUAE	11.5/20	6.2/10	9.3/10	0.9/15	6.0/10	1.5/10	0.5/15	2.2/10
BHBBahrain	6.7/20	4.8/10	8.3/10	2.0/15	5.7/10	1.5/10	1.3/15	3.0/10
QSEQatar	10.8/20	5.7/10	9.1/10	0.0/15	5.1/10	1.0/10	0.1/15	0.5/10
TDWLSaudi Arabia	8.8/20	5.7/10	8.8/10	0.0/15	5.1/10	1.1/10	0.0/15	0.4/10
DFMUAE	7.3/20	5.4/10	8.1/10	0.6/15	5.6/10	1.7/10	0.4/15	1.6/10
ASEJordan	9.8/20	4.5/10	5.6/10	0.0/15	5.2/10	1.0/10	0.0/15	0.3/10
BKKuwait	8.8/20	3.4/10	8.9/10	0.3/15	5.0/10	1.1/10	0.2/15	1.0/10
ISXIraq	10.0/20	3.0/10	5.0/10	0.0/15	5.0/10	1.0/10	0.0/15	0.0/10
BISTTurkey	0.0/20	0.0/10	5.0/10	0.0/15	5.0/10	1.0/10	0.0/15	0.0/10
GCC Avg	9.0/20	4.2/10	7.7/10	0.4/15	5.3/10	1.2/10	0.2/15	0.9/10

Regulatory Frameworks

Each GCC exchange operates under a distinct corporate governance code enforced by its national securities regulator. These frameworks shape governance culture and disclosure requirements.

Exchange	Regulator	Governance Code	Avg Score	Coverage
Muscat Securities Market	Capital Market Authority (CMA)	CMA Code of Corporate Governance	84	79/85(93%)
Egyptian Exchange	Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA)	Egyptian Corporate Governance Code	61	14/252(6%)
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange	Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA)	SCA Corporate Governance Code	60	67/98(68%)
Bahrain Bourse	Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB)	CBB Corporate Governance Code	59	15/17(88%)
Qatar Stock Exchange	Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA)	QFMA Corporate Governance Code	57	54/55(98%)
Saudi Exchange (Tadawul)	Capital Market Authority (CMA)	CMA Corporate Governance Regulations	53	383/385(99%)
Dubai Financial Market	Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA)	SCA Corporate Governance Code	52	50/70(71%)
Amman Stock Exchange	Jordan Securities Commission (JSC)	JSC Corporate Governance Code	50	139/205(68%)
Boursa Kuwait	Capital Markets Authority (CMA)	CMA Corporate Governance Rules	47	87/136(64%)
Iraq Stock Exchange	Iraq Securities Commission (ISC)	ISC Corporate Governance Code	43	2/102(2%)
Borsa Istanbul	Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB)	CMB Corporate Governance Principles	26	29/568(5%)

Score Distribution by Exchange

MSXOman

84A

79 of 85 companies scored

EGXEgypt

61C

14 of 252 companies scored

ADXUAE

60C

67 of 98 companies scored

BHBBahrain

59C

15 of 17 companies scored

QSEQatar

57C

54 of 55 companies scored

TDWLSaudi Arabia

53C

110

102

383 of 385 companies scored

DFMUAE

52C

50 of 70 companies scored

ASEJordan

50C

139 of 205 companies scored

BKKuwait

47D

87 of 136 companies scored

ISXIraq

43D

2 of 102 companies scored

BISTTurkey

26F

29 of 568 companies scored

Best & Worst Governed per Exchange

Exchange	Best Governed		Weakest Governed
MSXOman	ALOMANIYAAl Omaniya Financial	100A	ASYADAsyad Shipping Company	55C
EGXEgypt	COMICommercial International Bank - Egypt (CIB) S.A.E.	100A	IBCTInternational Business Corp. for Trading & Agencies	40D
ADXUAE	FCIFujairah Cement Industries	92A	ORDSOOREDOO	39D
BHBBahrain	BEYONBeyon B.S.C	85A	ALBHAluminium Bahrain B.S.C	28F
QSEQatar	QIMDQatar Industrial Manufacturing Co.	76B	BEMADamaan Islamic Insurance Company (Beema)	36D
TDWLSaudi Arabia	1323United Carton Industries Company	100A	9617Arabica Star Company	0F
DFMUAE	PARKINParkin Co. PJSC	83A	ITHMRIthmaar Holding BSC	10F
ASEJordan	APHCArab Center for Pharmaceutical & Chemical Industries	100A	CEGCCentral Electricity Generating Company	30F
BKKuwait	DIGITUSDigitus Group for Digital Infrastructure Data Centers & Communications KSCP	84A	QICUmm Al-Qaiwain General Investments Co PSC	23F
ISXIraq	BLADAl-Bilad Securities and Investment	43D	-
BISTTurkey	ISBTRTurkiye Is Bankasi Anonim Sirketi Class B	58C	VAKBNTurkiye Vakiflar Bankasi Turk Anonim Ortakligi	14F

Dimension Leaders & Laggards

Which exchange leads or lags on each governance dimension, based on average component scores as a percentage of maximum.

Board Independencemax 20 pts

MSX

18.5/20

ADX

11.5/20

QSE

10.8/20

ISX

10.0/20

ASE

9.8/20

TDWL

8.8/20

DFM

7.3/20

EGX

7.1/20

BHB

6.7/20

BIST

0.0/20

Leader: MSX (92%)Laggard: BIST (0%)

Board Sizemax 10 pts

ADX

6.2/10

MSX

5.9/10

QSE

5.7/10

TDWL

5.7/10

DFM

5.4/10

BHB

4.8/10

ASE

4.5/10

3.4/10

ISX

3.0/10

EGX

2.1/10

BIST

0.0/10

Leader: ADX (62%)Laggard: BIST (0%)

CEO/Chair Separationmax 10 pts

MSX

9.9/10

ADX

9.3/10

QSE

9.1/10

8.9/10

TDWL

8.8/10

BHB

8.3/10

DFM

8.1/10

EGX

6.8/10

ASE

5.6/10

ISX

5.0/10

BIST

5.0/10

Leader: MSX (99%)Laggard: BIST (50%)

Meeting Attendancemax 15 pts

BHB

2.0/15

ADX

0.9/15

DFM

0.6/15

0.3/15

TDWL

0.0/15

MSX

0.0/15

EGX

0.0/15

QSE

0.0/15

ASE

0.0/15

ISX

0.0/15

BIST

0.0/15

Leader: BHB (13%)Laggard: BIST (0%)

Auditor Independencemax 10 pts

ADX

6.0/10

BHB

5.7/10

MSX

5.7/10

DFM

5.6/10

ASE

5.2/10

EGX

5.1/10

TDWL

5.1/10

QSE

5.1/10

5.0/10

ISX

5.0/10

BIST

5.0/10

Leader: ADX (60%)Laggard: BIST (50%)

Credential Densitymax 10 pts

DFM

1.7/10

BHB

1.5/10

ADX

1.5/10

1.1/10

MSX

1.1/10

TDWL

1.1/10

QSE

1.0/10

ASE

1.0/10

EGX

1.0/10

ISX

1.0/10

BIST

1.0/10

Leader: DFM (17%)Laggard: BIST (10%)

Committee Coveragemax 15 pts

BHB

1.3/15

ADX

0.5/15

DFM

0.4/15

0.2/15

QSE

0.1/15

MSX

0.0/15

EGX

0.0/15

TDWL

0.0/15

ASE

0.0/15

ISX

0.0/15

BIST

0.0/15

Leader: BHB (9%)Laggard: BIST (0%)

Pay Transparencymax 10 pts

BHB

3.0/10

ADX

2.2/10

DFM

1.6/10

1.0/10

MSX

0.6/10

QSE

0.5/10

TDWL

0.4/10

EGX

0.4/10

ASE

0.3/10

ISX

0.0/10

BIST

0.0/10

Leader: BHB (30%)Laggard: BIST (0%)

Related Insights

Saudi Governance Top 50

The 50 best-governed Tadawul companies, ranked by recalibrated composite score with data-confidence tiers.

Governance Risk Score

Composite governance quality assessment across 10 dimensions, re-normalized to populated data only.

CGX Compliance

Compliance scoring against GCC corporate governance codes.

Committee Independence

Board committee composition and independence analysis.

Our model generates scores and ratings using fully disclosed methodologies based on available data. These are quantitative analytical tools — not recommendations. They may not capture all relevant factors, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Users should review the methodology, assess the inputs, and exercise independent judgement.

Data sources · Full disclaimer · Data freshness

Pro Plan

Unlock the full SouqData platform

Get unlimited access to 180+ insight pages, AI copilot, deep research reports, watchlists, portfolio tracking, and the full 210-column screener across 11 MENA exchanges.

Full ScreenerAI CopilotDeep Research

View Plans Start free — no card required