The Middle East

Since its formation in July 2004, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has taken various measures to improve corporate governance and disclosure standards for Saudi Arabian public companies, which has also resulted in the improvement of such standards among private companies that may seek to be publicly listed in the future.

The growth of the Saudi economy over the last few decades has been nothing short of staggering, and today the country is one of the top 20 economies in the world. Historically, the hydrocarbons sector has dominated the economy, though growth in other segments, including industry, manufacturing, retail, trade and construction, has created...

One of the most challenging issues for investors in the Kingdom is how to adequately and commercially address the requirements of the Saudiisation policy. This is a particular challenge for foreign investors, who often have a harder time recruiting Saudi workers. The rationale behind the policy is clear: the Kingdom has a very young population...

The Kingdom’s tax administration has, until recently, relied mostly on self-declaration and self-assessment from taxpayers. Very few control tools and mechanisms were employed by the Department of Zakat and Income Tax (DZIT) to enforce compliance by tax- and (religious levy) payers with the rules. Indeed, Zakat and tax certificates were the...

Saudi Arabia is ranked third place out of all countries in the world in terms of the ease of paying taxes, a remarkable achievement for a G-20 country with an annual GDP of over $700bn. Provided that businesses make a commitment to comply with all existing regulations with due care, they can enjoy the advantages of the system. Tax regulations...