New commercial companies law to be implemented from Wednesday

Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry will start applying new commercial companies law promulgated by Royal Decree No 18/2019 with effect from Wednesday (April 17).
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Badi, Acting Director of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said: "The new Commercial Companies Law will help in attracting investments, enhancing governance and inclusiveness and will speed up registration of commercial companies."
Al Badi said that the new law added an another form of the commercial companies, namely the one-person company, which the law allowed that it can be established by only one person, whether natural or juridical, provided that this company has provisions of a limited liability company.
It also says that for the registration of the commercial companies it is a must they have documents of establishments and all the amendments written in Arabic or otherwise would be considered as invalid. Those who want to uphold the invalidity in the face of partners or shareholders is not found in the law repealed.
Mohammed Al Badi said that the new law set the standard for obtaining Omani nationality for commercial companies. For this it has to be established in the Sultanate of Oman according to the laws of Oman. The new law also allowed establishment of companies operating outside the borders of the Sultanate off shore in the free zones.
He said that the commercial company has legal entity during the period of its establishment, therefore, they would have to submit their decisions and minutes with the competent authority as required by law to be deposited within seven days from the day following the issuance of the decision, or convening of the general body or an act which makes it necessary to deposit. Everything would be published electronically according to the provisions of this law.
He said that the new Commercial Companies Law makes it obligatory for the competent authorities to set the governing principles for commercial companies.
The new law also makes it mandatory for the commercial companies to operate according to Islamic law and to comply with the provisions of Islamic Shariah in their conduct. The partner in the company or the shareholder or the director or the board of directors of the company can not add any partner to his account or to the account of a relative to the second degree.
The new law added that the publication of the decision to convert the company from one form to another would be within the period of 15 days from the date of it issuance.