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Companies will now be required to have a singular commercial register covering all of their activities in Saudi, as per the the Commercial Registration Law and Trade Name Law approved by the Cabinet, the Commerce Ministry said in two separate posts on X (here and here). The updated laws look to simplify procedures and make it easier to do business.
The new Trade Names Law (pdf) introduces a ban on duplicated trade names for businesses, even if they operate in different sectors or on different commercial activities. The law also allows for non-Arabic and alphanumeric characters in trade names, independent transfer of ownership of trade names separately from establishments, and the reservation of trade names for renewable periods prior to their registration.
No more regional sub-records for commercial entities: The new commercial registry requirements ditch sub-records — now, companies can operate under a single registry countrywide. Companies have a five-year grade period to do away with their sub-records. To do this, they can either establish a new company to retain the commercial sub-record, transfer the sub-record to another person or entity, or cancel the sub-record altogether and transfer its assets and activities to the establishment’s main record.
Registry renewal timelines have been updated: Businesses must now confirm their details electronically each year — beginning with the date of registration — rather than handle expiration dates for their registry. Registrations are suspended if a business fails to renew their details within the allotted 90-day window, but the suspension is lifted if details are renewed at any point during the year. A registration is removed from the registry if a business fails to confirm its details one year after suspension.
No more penalties: The system also replaces penalties with a system of “warnings and notices for businesses to comply” in order to give enterprises a chance to fix issues. Companies are now required to open linked bank accounts to improve transparency, while the authority has also introduced a centralized database to manage business registrations more efficiently.
