Saudi Arabia

A foreign investor enters through a licensed company, usually a limited liability company or a closed joint-stock company under the Companies Law. MISA grants the foreign-investment license first; commercial registration with the Ministry of Commerce follows. Many sectors allow majority or full foreign ownership, and the RHQ program is a principal driver. Treat the MISA license as the critical-path item, because nothing else starts until it issues. We scope the route with Saudi-admitted counsel, who carry the regulated mandate.

The RHQ program encourages multinationals to base their regional headquarters in the Kingdom, offering a substantial tax-relief package and preferential access to government procurement. Since government contracting eligibility is increasingly tied to holding an RHQ, the program has become central to how large groups structure their Saudi and wider Gulf presence, frequently pairing the Saudi RHQ with a Gulf holding vehicle. Hart David Carson can help frame the RHQ approach and assemble the licensing and RHQ advisers, alongside Saudi-admitted counsel.

No. Saudi Arabia has no common-law trust regime, and succession and family-wealth matters are governed primarily by Sharia principles, increasingly supplemented by family charters, holding companies and the family-business governance tools in the Companies Law. In practice, succession for a cross-border family is usually settled above the Saudi operating company, in an offshore or DIFC/ADGM holding vehicle, so the operating company always has a clear owner. We coordinate this with Saudi-admitted counsel and, where needed, advisers in that jurisdiction.

Hart David Carson does not maintain an office in Saudi Arabia. We act as facilitator and project lead through a facilitation and partner network of Saudi corporate-services providers, licensing and RHQ advisers, and banking introducers, working alongside locally admitted Saudi counsel in Riyadh and across the Kingdom. Locally admitted counsel carry the regulated mandate and provide the substantive Saudi legal advice; we coordinate the moving parts to one standard.

Expect a documented, substance-led process, not a quick one. Banking is well developed and supervised by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), with strong domestic liquidity and a growing fintech-licensing environment, but a foreign-owned entity generally needs its MISA investment license and commercial registration in hand before an account opens, followed by enhanced due-diligence and know-your-customer review. Clear beneficial-ownership papers and visible substance ease that review. We coordinate introductions through licensed providers and Saudi-admitted counsel and promise no particular outcome.

Two regimes, split by ownership. Foreign-owned entities generally pay 20% corporate income tax; Saudi and GCC ownership pays Zakat at 2.5% instead; 15% VAT and withholding taxes apply as well. Mixed ownership is apportioned by shareholding, so settle the cap table with the tax position in view. The RHQ program offers a 30-year tax-relief package for qualifying activities, and the Kingdom has a growing double-tax-treaty network and participates in CRS. Saudi tax advisers confirm Zakat and tax positions first.