Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce has announced significant updates to the Kingdom’s commercial regulations, introducing the new Law of Commercial Register and the Law of Trade Names, effective April 5, 2025.
Abdulrahman, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, highlighted major changes brought by the new Law of Commercial Register. One notable update includes the removal of subsidiary commercial registers, now replaced by a single, unified register. This simplifies commercial registration by eliminating the need to specify a city, allowing businesses to operate seamlessly across the entire Kingdom under one registration.
The revised law also removes the expiration date for commercial registrations, instead requiring businesses to annually confirm their registration details. Furthermore, the commercial registration number will serve as a unified establishment number beginning with the digit (7). Businesses currently holding subsidiary registers are provided a five-year period to adjust and comply with the new regulations.
In relation to trade names, Al-Hussein from the Ministry clarified that the new Law of Trade Names allows the reservation and registration of trade names in English, including the use of letters and numbers—a significant change from previous regulations restricting trade names exclusively to Arabic.
Moreover, trade names can now be managed independently from business establishments, facilitating the transfer of ownership rights. The law strictly prohibits the registration of identical or similar trade names across different establishments, regardless of the nature of their business activities.
Additionally, the new law outlines clear guidelines for reserving family names as trade names and establishes strict criteria against registering misleading or prohibited names, enhancing consumer protection and business transparency in the Kingdom.
