Saudi anti-concealment law to protect consumers and small businesses

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s “anti-concealment” laws aim to protect consumers and small businesses from financial crime according to the Ministry of Commerce, Al Arabiya reported.
The measures relate in large part to the business relationship of Saudis and foreign investors and aim to ensure that they do not circumvent the Kingdom’s commercial law about how such partnerships are created and what happens when they are dissolved.
The regulations support the reporting of crimes and violations by protecting whistleblowers and motivating them through rewards.
Talat Hafiz, a Saudi economist, financial analyst, and board member of the Saudi Financial Association, said commercial concealment is a major financial crime that “works against fair and unjustifiable commercial trading and causes significant harm to the economy and to its gross domestic product.”
“The government of Saudi Arabia has been alerted to such risks and consequences of commercial concealment, and has introduced a very powerful national program to combat such economic and commercial disease,” he added.
Several government bodies are combating concealment besides the Ministry of Commerce, including, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.