RIYADH — The Saudi Ministry of Commerce urged owners of businesses and commercial establishments to take advantage of the extended six-month corrective period for violators of the Anti-Commercial Cover-up Law (tasattur). The ministry identified seven types of tasattur and the penalty for the crime includes a maximum of five years in prison and SR5 million in fine. The ministry said the seven types of tasattur include the non-Saudi worker of the commercial establishment pays its owner a monthly or annual lump sum amount; the non-Saudi worker manages transactions of the establishment's funds through bank deposits, cash payments or money transfer within the Kingdom and outside; and the non-Saudi worker keeps in his possession blank documents, checks and contracts duly signed by the owner of an establishment. The types of tasattur also include existence of a partnership between the owner of the establishment and non-Saudi worker who does not have an investment license; endorsing a non-Saudi who does not have a foreign investment license, to have a stake in the dividends that are meant to be distributed to the partners of the company and allowing the non-Saudi to determine the mechanism of distribution; the entry of the establishment's revenues and profits directly into the personal account of a non-Saudi and not in the establishment's account; and hiring of brokers or intermediaries by the establishment's owner using his commercial register to conclude contracts with other parties or individuals. The ministry called on the owners of establishments to take advantage of the corrective period for violators of the law before the end of its deadline on Feb. 16, 2022 via the ministry's website mc.gov.sa. The ministry earlier extended the deadline for correcting the status by six months from Aug. 23 to Feb. 16. The National Program for Combating Commercial Concealment revealed that the correction requests received so far by the Ministry of Commerce included various economic activities, most notably wholesale and retail trade, contracting, accommodation and food services, downstream industries, transport and storage businesses.
