Law of Commercial Register in the Kingdom

The Law of Commercial Register in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a set of legal rules governing commercial registers of businesses. It delineates the processes for their regulation in the Kingdom, the processes for their registration and followed procedures, the grounds for their write-off from the commercial register, and the sanctions for violating the provisions of the Law of Commercial Register and the entity responsible for their implementation against violators.

The Law of Commercial Register was first issued in 1956 during the reign of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. A new law bearing the same name was issued in 1995 during the reign of King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The Implementing Regulations of the Law of Commercial Register were issued in 1995, comprised of twenty articles.

Two articles of the Law of Commercial Register were amended on the same date: Articles Two and Three, as amended in 2018.

The Law of Commercial Register addressed the registration requirements for a commercial register for merchants. The law’s importance stems from its work on regulating the most crucial part of a merchant's work; the licensing aspect of his business.

According to Article One, the Ministry of Commerce prepares a register in the cities designated by a decision issued by the Minister of Commerce, covering all the provinces of the Kingdom, where names of merchants and companies and all the data specified in this law are registered.

The Law of Commercial Register focuses on the topic of commercial registers and important data about the nature of the business of the company or institution. The law applies exclusively to merchants, and merchants cannot conduct their business nor request any services from official entities until they complete the registration of their commercial register. Article Fourteen stipulates that anyone who submits an application to an official entity in the capacity of a merchant, his application is not accepted in such capacity unless he is registered in the commercial register.

The Law of Commercial Register is carried out alongside other laws regulating the business of merchants, such as the Companies Law and the Bankruptcy Law.