The 2024 Commercial Register Law: what changed

The Council of Ministers approved the Law of Commercial Register on 17 September 2024, together with a new Trade Names Law. Both came into force on 3 April 2025 and replaced the old rules for every establishment in the register.

The new law cancelled CR renewal and the CR expiry date. Instead, the establishment confirms its CR data electronically every 12 months, through business.sa.

• The confirmation is due one year from the date of registration, then every year.
• The Ministry warns the establishment 14 days before suspending its CR.
• If the confirmation is not made within 90 days of its due date, the CR is suspended — and so is every licence tied to it.
• A CR that stays unconfirmed for a year after suspension can be struck off.

One commercial register now covers the establishment across the Kingdom, and the CR is no longer tied to a city. Sub-registrations (branch CRs) were abolished, with a five-year grace period to bring existing ones together. The CR number also becomes the establishment's unified number, which starts with 7.

• Changes to the registered data must be updated within 15 days.
• The licences needed for the registered activity must be obtained within 90 days, unless the licensing body sets a longer period.
• Anyone may view the basic data recorded in the commercial register.
• Giving false data, or breaching key duties such as the yearly confirmation, can bring a fine of up to SAR 50,000.

• A trade name may now use Arabic or non-Arabic words, Arabized words, letters or numbers, so an English name is allowed.
• A name is reserved before registration, for a set period that can be extended once. You reserve the name on its own, without choosing the company type or activity first.
• A trade name can be transferred or sold separately from the establishment.
• A reserved or registered name is protected: no one may use it without the owner's consent, and confusingly similar names are refused even in a different activity.
• Special rules apply to family names, the trader's own name, the word "Saudi", and names of cities and public places.

The yearly confirmation is easy to do and easy to forget — and a suspended CR suspends every licence tied to it. Mohla Comply puts your confirmation date on your 12-month calendar, reminds you before it, and makes the confirmation when you ask. If you are setting up, Mohla Start reserves your trade name as part of the setup.

Mohla's own fee is in the written quote you receive before any work starts.