A Kuwaiti court will rule later this month on a challenge filed by the stock market regulator against a cabinet decree that ended the tenure of three of its commissioners, a court official said on Sunday.

The first degree court will issue its decision on December 25.

The October decree terminated the membership of three of the Capital Markets Authority's (CMA) five commissioners.

Local media reports said the men were removed for violating CMA laws by holding other jobs at the same time.

The market regulator filed the case to get the three commissioners - Saleh al-Yousuf, Nayef al-Hajraf and Yousuf al-Ali - back on its board, saying earlier that they alone are responsible for enforcing their own regulations.

The CMA was formally launched in March, more than 30 years after the Kuwait Stock Exchange was established. It is meant to provide a steadying hand for the Gulf's third largest stock market in terms of capitalisation, after Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

 Instead, it has been beset with problems, including the controversy over the commissioners and questions about whether rules enacted under their tenure would be binding, after the trade ministry said such decisions were void.-Reuters