Saudi stock exchange ready to handle Aramco listing

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's stock exchange (Tadawul) is ready from a regulatory and technical point of view to handle a listing of Saudi oil giant Aramco, the chief executive said on Wednesday.

The government has said it plans to sell about 5 percent of Aramco in late 2018 or early 2019, hoping to raise some $100 billion or more in what is likely to be the world's biggest initial public offer.

The Tadawul is prepared to take steps to ensure the Aramco weighting in the index would not be too big, Khalid al-Hussan said at a business conference in Riyadh. He added that steps in that direction might include imposing an "index cap".

Saudi officials have said that in addition to Riyadh, Aramco may list on one or more foreign markets.