The Saudi Central Bank has ordered all banks and financial institutions to immediately update their internal systems.
This mandate aligns with sweeping Saudi commercial registry reforms that took effect on April 3, 2025.
These changes aim to streamline business registration, enhance trade name protection, and boost ease of doing business.
In a direct communication to the Central Bank, the Minister of Commerce outlined major changes to existing laws.
The most notable change is the adoption of a unified national ID number starting with “7” for all business entities.
These Saudi commercial registry reforms also cancel secondary commercial registrations.
Now, a single registry will cover all business operations of a company across the Kingdom.
Current branch records must be consolidated within five years.
Companies that fail to confirm their data within 90 days of the due date will face suspension.
Additionally, the reforms have removed city names from registry documents, replacing them with national address identifiers.
Businesses can now verify registry data through the Ministry’s website, the Wathiq platform, or a QR code on the certificate.
The Central Bank has urged financial institutions to train commercial department staff on these new regulatory changes.
This step ensures full awareness and compliance across all front-line banking teams.
Already, these Saudi commercial registry reforms have driven a surge in activity.
By late 2024, the Kingdom issued over 416,000 new commercial registrations, up from 250,000 in January 2023.
Today, Saudi Arabia boasts over 1.6 million active registries.
Officials credit these changes for improving data accuracy, business transparency, and regulatory efficiency.
Clearly, the Saudi commercial registry reforms are reshaping the nation’s economic landscape—one streamlined business at a time.
