Saudi Arabia’s market regulator is taking another step in its long, staged opening of the Tadawul by removing the “Qualified Foreign Investor” (QFI) gatekeeping regime for the main equity market and letting all categories of foreign investors access the market directly from February 1, 2026.

In practical terms, the reform simplifies entry. Under the old structure, many foreign institutions could already invest, but they typically had to qualify under the QFI framework (and/or use intermediated routes). Scrapping the QFI concept reduces friction and administrative overhead, and it is designed to widen the investor funnel, particularly for smaller institutions, family offices, and other non-resident categories that may have been deterred by qualification requirements.

The European Union is launching an investigation into whether China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry is benefiting from unfair subsidies. This probe will include scrutiny of European car manufacturers, including Tesla, that export EVs from China to the EU.

President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Indian exports, half of which is framed as a penalty for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, is creating significant short-term headwinds for India’s financial markets and potentially weakening its long-term strategic positioning as an alternative to China in global supply chains.

The selective nature of the measure, which largely spares China despite its far greater imports from Russia, has amplified investor concerns over U.S. policy unpredictability and the durability of India-U.S. economic alignment.