.svg)
Nafith and Makken screening is how a CMA-licensed firm in Saudi Arabia checks its clients against two Saudi order lists, and then carries out each order that names a client. Nafith is the CMA's electronic link with the Ministry of Justice. Execution judges use it to send orders to capital market institutions and to the market: disclose a client's securities and funds, seize them, lift a seizure, or execute on them [1][2]. Makken is a second order list that firms receive and screen the same way [3]. A match the firm misses is an order it does not carry out.
Nafith is a system the CMA developed to link it electronically with the Ministry of Justice [1]. Execution judges issue judicial orders through it. The orders reach the CMA, the capital market institutions that hold investors' accounts (the CMA's "Authorized Persons"), and the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) [1]. The ITU's record of the project also names the Securities Depository Center among the parties [2].
The orders cover four actions [1][2]:
The link started in early 2016 and was launched officially during Ramadan that year. Paper orders from the Execution Circles stopped in July 2016 [1][2]. By the end of July 2016 the CMA had received 36,657 electronic orders. It said the average time to execute an order fell by up to 85%, from 20 to 25 business days to 3 to 5 working days [1].
Two other things in Saudi Arabia have a similar name. The Ministry of Justice runs a platform also called Nafith, for creating and managing enforcement instruments electronically [6]. Nafath (نفاذ) is the national digital identity app from the National Information Center, used to sign in to online services [7]. Neither of them is the CMA's order link.
Nafith orders come from execution courts. These courts enforce judgments and other enforceable instruments under Saudi Arabia's Enforcement Law. When a debtor does not pay, the court goes after the debtor's assets: it orders them disclosed, traces them and attaches them [4]. When those assets are securities or funds held with a capital market institution, the order travels to the firm through Nafith [1].
The law is changing. A new Enforcement Law, issued by Royal Decree M/237, was published in the Official Gazette on 1 May 2026. It takes effect on 28 October 2026 and replaces the law issued in 2012 by Royal Decree M/53. Judgments, orders and decisions issued before 28 October 2026 remain valid [4]. Under the new law, enforcement goes first at the debtor's assets, through disclosure, asset tracing and attachment. Travel bans become a last resort [4].
Makken (مكّن) is the second Saudi order list that CMA-licensed firms screen next to Nafith [3]. In practice it works the same way. The firm receives a list of orders. Each order names a person or a company by ID number and says what to do. The firm checks every client against the list and carries out each order that matches.
Do not confuse it with Makken FinTech, a programme that SAMA and the CMA launched in December 2023 to support 150 fintech start-ups over three years [8]. Most web searches for "Makken" return that programme, not the order list.
Both are screening, and a CMA-licensed firm must do both. But they answer different questions.
For the sanctions side in full, read our guide to sanctions screening for CMA-licensed firms.
The CMA's public pages describe what Nafith carries, not a step-by-step procedure for firms. In practice, the work runs in five steps:
An order names its subject by ID type and ID number [3]: a national ID, an iqama or a commercial registration number, for example. Matching on that number avoids the guesswork of Arabic names written in Latin letters, where one name can have many spellings.
It only works if the firm's own records are right. Every client and every linked party needs a current, verified ID on file. The CMA's Investment Accounts Instructions already require this: firms obtain and verify a Saudi client's national ID information when opening an account, ask clients to update their data when an ID expires, and review the need for updates at least once every five years [9]. A wrong or expired ID number on file means a missed order. Our guide to choosing a CMA-compliant KYC platform covers how to keep that data current.
Ayn is Dal's compliance platform. As described on getdal.sa, it covers the points above like this:
Some work stays with your people in any system: reading each order, deciding what it asks for, and carrying out a seizure or a transfer on time.
To see Ayn screen your client base against Nafith and Makken, Book a Demo at getdal.sa.
Nafith (نافذ) is the electronic link between the Capital Market Authority and the Ministry of Justice. Execution judges use it to send orders to disclose, seize, lift a seizure on, or execute on investors' securities and funds. It has carried these orders since 2016 [1][2].
No. Nafith (نافذ) is the CMA's link for court orders. Nafath (نفاذ) is the national digital identity app from the National Information Center, used to sign in to government and private services [7]. The Ministry of Justice also runs a separate Nafith platform for enforcement instruments [6].
Makken (مكّن) is the second Saudi order list that CMA-licensed firms screen next to Nafith. It works the same way: each order names a person or company by ID number and says what the firm must do [3]. It is not the Makken FinTech programme for start-ups [8].
Capital market institutions licensed by the CMA. Nafith orders reach them through the CMA [1]. A firm that holds client accounts must check its clients against each list and carry out each order that matches.
Sanctions screening matches names and their spellings against UN and Saudi sanctions lists, and a match means a freeze within hours [5]. Nafith screening matches ID numbers against court orders, and a match means doing what the order says [1].
By ID number first. Orders carry the subject's ID number [3]. The name confirms the match, but Arabic names can be written in Latin letters in many ways, so a name alone can miss a match or create a false one.
The new law, issued by Royal Decree M/237, replaces the Enforcement Law of 2012. Orders issued before 28 October 2026 stay valid. Enforcement goes first at the debtor's assets, through disclosure, tracing and attachment, and travel bans become a last resort [4].
Yes. Ayn automates Nafith and Makken alongside 2,700+ international watchlists, and generates no-match reports for CMA entities automatically [3][10].
.png)
