In 2003, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) was established under the Capital Market Law (CML) to act as a regulatory supervisor of the capital market. The Capital Market Authority regulates and supervises several critical issues such as market conduct, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and the issuance of financial instruments such as mutual funds, IPOs and Sukuk “Islamic bonds”. Therefore, the establishment of the CMA defined a new phase of financial liberalization in the country. The CMA established the legal and regulatory platform to open the Saudi capital market, support the privatization effort and increase public participation in the market, while promoting efficiency and transparency. Furthermore, in March 2007, the Tadawul Exchange was reconstituted as a joint-stock company with a capital of $320 million to increase the exchange's autonomy. Since the formation of the CMA, the Saudi capital market has continuously evolved in terms of breadth, depth and complexity. In March 2010, the number of listed companies increased to 139 from 76 in 2001, when local companies began to look to the capital markets to finance their future financing needs. Due to growing investor participation, Tadawul's total market capitalization recorded a compound annual growth rate “CAGR” of 34.8% reaching SAR 1.9 trillion, or approximately US$507 billion between 2003 and 2007. Due to the financial crisis of 2008-2009, Tadawul's market capitalization dropped to SAR 1.2 trillion, or approximately $320 billion. Between the years 2003-2007, stock market activity grew rapidly without interruption in terms of value, volume and market capitalization, as well as increasing the number of transactions. Total stock trading volume on the Tadawul Stock Exchange increased at a CAGR of 11.4% between 2003 and 2009. IL