The global financial crisis and credit crunch prompted the Capital Markets Authority in Saudi Arabia (the “CMA”) to introduce rules to increase investor awareness of public company financial difficulties. In May 2013, the CMA published draft guidelines and instructions setting out certain rules that apply to public companies when the losses of a public company reaches 50% or more of its share capital (the “Guidelines”). The deadline for the business community to provide comments on the
How #Saudi New Weekend Impacts Legacy #Financing Agreements
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, announced on Sunday June 23, 2013 that the official working days in Saudi Arabia will change to Sunday to Thursday and the weekend to Friday to Saturday, with effect from June 29, 2013 (the “Royal Decree”). The change aligns Saudi Arabia with the other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council, Oman having changed its weekend earlier this year, and provides a four working day overlap with other business centres globally.
K.A.CARE Sheds Light on Renewable Energy Program
The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) has recently published its consultation white paper for the “Proposed Competitive Procurement Process for the Renewable Energy Program.” The paper outlines the Competitive Procurement Process (the CPP) contemplated by K.A.CARE for solar, wind, geothermal and waste to energy projects in the Saudi Arabia. The publication of the white paper (which is noted to be under development) is an important step in the much anticipated development of renewable energy
The Emergence of Egyptian Sukuk
Following widespread debate and commentary on the first draft of the Egyptian sukuk legislation (the sukuk legislation), the Egyptian cabinet has approved a second draft of the sukuk legislation to be presented to the Egyptian Shura Council for parliamentary discussion. The legislation is a significant change in legal direction for Egypt that has only embraced Islamic finance to a limited degree to date.
The first draft of the sukuk legislation was subject to widespread criticism, including that the sukuk legislation
Reforms to Banking Disputes in Saudi Arabia
Several new laws have taken effect in recent months in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from arbitration to the establishment of a centre for registration of lien and the long awaited mortgage law. As part of the restructuring underway in the Saudi Arabian judiciary system, long standing regulations for the resolution of banking disputes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also have been revised. These new reforms represent a welcome step toward achieving greater certainty and predictability in the