Ministry of Commerce: Over 30 Amendments to License Automation Within a Year

By announcing the computerization of 100 percent of the ministry’s procedural services and implementing digital transformation, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has linked its data with several government entities, including advertising licenses and expediting immediate approvals. Additionally, the ministry has made more than 30 amendments to services related to the issuance and renewal of licenses, as well as to data on beneficial owners and new company formations.

Among the most prominent amendments implemented by the ministry is the modification of the service that prevents the renewal of branches when the main license has expired. This change displays a message to the license holder stating that renewal is not possible unless the primary license is renewed.

Amendments were also made to the company formation services, requiring the registration of the beneficial owner in the formation request and the approval of beneficiaries through the inquiry system.

Furthermore, the service for amending company contract data was modified to allow increasing the share of a partner whose share has been seized, but not decreasing it. Additionally, the company formation service was updated to require the registration of data concerning beneficiaries in cases of company division.

The Ministry of Commerce completed the automated linkage with the Public Authority for Manpower to prevent the display of seizure clauses on partner companies or companies whose board members are subject to seizure.

According to its report, other amendments carried out during the year include updating the names on the exceptions screens of the digital portal for managing sole establishments. The service for the format of the beneficial owner authentication notification for formation requests was also amended, displaying the formation request number via the Sahol program.

The operation of the service for converting a sole establishment into a partnership company was modified to restrict the conversion exclusively to a single-shareholder company. A mandatory condition requires that the owner be a partner in the company formed through the conversion, and that this owner is the same individual who held the converted sole establishment license. It is also possible to add an external manager who holds no share in the company, subject to the residency conditions for expatriates via the Single Window portal.

The ministry amended the service that issues a notification of license expiration, which is sent to the license holder if the entity is a sole establishment. The notification is sent along with the timestamp of license suspension due to expiration, via the Sahol program.

The service for requesting entry into the Committee for Regularizing Expired Licenses was also modified, allowing such a request if a suspension is in place. This suspension halts all procedures except for settlement, liquidation, and license cancellation. The system automatically lifts the suspension if the committee approves the request via the Partnership Companies portal.

These amendments aim to facilitate the business environment for companies. Additional changes include updating the automated link with the Ministry of Health and modifying the automated link with the municipality for advertising licenses to display data on representatives, such as the chairman of the board of joint-stock companies.