Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Legal Updates - June 29, 2016

Ministerial Decision 139/2016 – listing new regulations related to registering commercial activities

In a move aimed at reducing barriers to foreign investment, the MOCI issued a new decision abolishing the minimum capital requirement for establishing a company in Oman. Under the new law, it will be left up to the investors to decide upon the amount of initial company capital.

Article 1 of the decision states that institutions and commercial corporations can be registered without any minimum capital requirement and without providing any certificates or documents pertaining to capital. This applies to all, except joint-stock corporations. This seeks to do away with the previous minimum capital requirement, which was considered high by foreign investors.

Article 2 states that the registered institutions and commercial corporations must present financial data related to their capital, along with any other data requested by the MOCI, within the first four months after the end of its business year. The MOCI will apply the financial disclosure system starting next year.

The MOCI has said that the decision aims to facilitate procedures, as laid down by the Ministry, making it easier for investors to conduct business, whether they are Omanis or foreigners.