Business
Companies Law 2022 and a commercial court system
The Companies Law of 2022 modernised corporate forms and introduced the simplified joint stock company. Commercial disputes go to dedicated commercial courts, and arbitration is well established.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Commercial courts under the Commercial Courts Law 2020. The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration administers institutional arbitration.
- Deadline — 30 days to appeal a commercial court judgment
- Deadline — 60 days to challenge an arbitral award for annulment
Governing law
- Companies Law 2022Royal Decree M/132
- Commercial Courts Law 2020
- Arbitration Law 2012 — UNCITRAL Model Law based
- Bankruptcy Law 2018
In practice
The 2022 Companies Law removed the requirement for minimum capital in most forms and created the simplified joint stock company aimed at startups and venture investment, which together made Saudi incorporation genuinely competitive for the first time. The 2012 Arbitration Law is Model Law based and awards are enforceable, but the sharia public policy exception is real and interest awards in particular are vulnerable at the enforcement stage, so structuring around it matters. The 2018 Bankruptcy Law introduced a workable reorganisation procedure where previously insolvency effectively meant liquidation.