On 19 January 2023, the new Companies Law entered into force following the conclusion of the 180-day publication period, enacted by Cabinet Resolution No. 678 dated 29/11/1443H (corresponding to 28/06/2022) and ratified by Royal Decree No. M/132 dated 01/12/1443H (corresponding to 30/06/2022) (“New Companies Law”). The New Companies Law represents the first wholesale revision of the law since 2016 and implements a broad range of changes intended to reflect international practices and foster the growth…
In brief The Egyptian Parliament has approved amendments to the Law number 3 of 2005 on the Protection of Competition and the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices (ECL), introducing for the first time a mandatory pre-merger notification regime in Egypt (“Amendments”). Until now, the ECL had only a post-merger notification system which did not give the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) any powers to assess, approve or block a transaction. The Amendments are expected to be published…
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…
In brief Earlier last week, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), issued a decree introducing a number of fundamental changes to the UAE Commercial Companies Law (CCL Amendment) and to the UAE’s approach towards foreign direct investment (FDI) in general. The CCL Amendment adopted a new general rule of, in principle, allowing foreign investors to fully own certain types of companies in the mainland of the UAE. The…
On 06/8/1441H (corresponding to 30 March 2020), the General Authority for Competition (the Authority) issued the anticipated Merger Control Guidelines (the Guidelines) that aim to provide some clarification and interpretative guidance on merger control related provisions of the Competition Law issued by Royal Decree no. M/75 dated 29/6/1440H (corresponding to 6 March 2019 (the Competition Law) and its Implementing Regulations issued by a resolution of the Board of Directors of the Authority on 25/1/1441H (corresponding…