THE MIDDLE EAST’S

12. Maryam Al Suwaidi

Designation: CEO, Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA)
Country: U.A.E.

Al Suwaidi has been with the SCA since 2002 and became CEO in October 2021. In October 2024, SCA granted National Bonds and Daman Investment the first license to operate an End-of-Service Benefits Savings Scheme in the U.A.E. The fund will enable employees to invest their earned benefits, safeguard their rights, and grow their gratuities. She is the first woman in the GCC to head a capital markets authority. As of December 2024, the SCA had processed 17,000 requests, totaling over $39.7 million, for disbursing unclaimed dividends to shareholders of public companies and dormant balances held by brokerage firms since it launched these services in February 2024.