The Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia adopted a resolution dated 03/06/1444H (corresponding to 27 December 2022G) clarifying the consequences in terms of eligibility to compete for government contracts for companies that fail to locate their Regional Headquarters (“RHQ”) in Saudi Arabia. This clarification has been anticipated for some time, since the Kingdom first announced at the end of 2020 that multinationals wishing to continue contracting with the government would need to locate their RHQs…
In brief On 20 November 2022, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) launched a public consultation on proposed amendements to the Personal Data Protection Law, promulgated by Royal Decree No. M/19, dated 09/02/1443H (“PDPL”), which was orginally published on promulgated on 24 September 2021. You can acces our previous alert on the publication of the PDPL here. The public consultation will remain open up until 20 December 2022 and all organisations are invited…
The General Authority for Competition (the “Authority”) recently published its latest annual report regarding its activity in 2021. This report shows that since the introduction of the current Competition Law1 (the “Law”) in Saudi Arabia in September 2019, the Authority has strengthened its resources and taken a number of initiatives to raise awareness about the Law and that it has significantly increased its enforcement against violators. This alert offers an overview of the key initiatives and…
On 27 September 2022 the Capital Market Authority (“CMA”) of Saudi Arabia announced a series of amendments to its implementing regulations designed to (i) facilitate the direct listing of debt instruments (including convertibles) offered by way of private placement; and (ii) introduce a framework for equity fundraising through crowdfunding platforms. The amended Rules on the Offer of Securities and Continuing Obligations (“OSCOs”) now also provide for the public offer of exchangeable debt instruments. These initiatives…
On 31 March 2022, the Ministry of Commerce published for consultation a draft Consumer Protection Law (“Draft Law”) on the Public Consultation Platform, which will close for comments on 15 May 2022. The Draft Law is intended to be administered by a yet to be defined competent governmental authority, presumably a department within the Ministry of Commerce (“Competent Authority”). The scope of the Draft Law is limited to business to consumer (B2C) transactions, as it…