Companies and sole traders in Saudi Arabia are registered in the السجل التجاري (Commercial Register), a single national register maintained by وزارة التجارة (Ministry of Commerce). Registration, amendment and cancellation are handled electronically through the ministry's المركز السعودي للأعمال (Saudi Business Center) platform at business.sa, while register data can be checked free of charge through the ministry's public enquiry service. Since 3 April 2025, a new نظام السجل التجاري (Law of Commercial Register) applies: one unified registration now covers all of a business's activities anywhere in the Kingdom, sub-registers have been discontinued, and periodic renewal has been replaced by an annual electronic confirmation of register data.

The Company Registry

The official register of businesses in Saudi Arabia is the السجل التجاري (Commercial Register), kept by the وزارة التجارة (Ministry of Commerce) — mc.gov.sa. Every entity entered in it receives a رقم السجل التجاري (Commercial Registration number, "CR number"), the identifier used in dealings with all other Saudi authorities, banks and counterparties.

Saudi Arabia does not operate a separate register for individual entrepreneurs. A مؤسسة فردية (sole proprietorship) owned by one natural person is entered in the same Commercial Register as a company, under the same numbering system; the Ministry of Commerce distinguishes only between sole proprietorships and companies as legal structures, not by register. The practical channels are:

  • المركز السعودي للأعمال (Saudi Business Center) — business.sa — the government platform for issuing a commercial registration, updating register data, performing the annual confirmation and cancelling a registration.
  • الاستعلام عن بيانات السجل التجاري (Query about Commercial Registration Data) — the Ministry of Commerce's free public enquiry service, reachable from the ministry's e-services directory at mc.gov.sa.
  • واثق (Wathq) — wathq.sa — the Ministry of Commerce's official data platform, which delivers verified commercial register and company-contract data to banks, government bodies and licensed businesses through APIs rather than through a public web page.

One category of individual activity does sit outside the Commercial Register: independent freelancers may instead hold a وثيقة العمل الحر (Freelance Work Document) issued by the وزارة الموارد البشرية والتنمية الاجتماعية (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development). This is a permit for self-employed individuals, not a commercial registration, and it is not part of the Commercial Register.

Legal Forms

Company forms are set by the نظام الشركات (Companies Law), in force since 19 January 2023. The law recognises five company forms; the earlier شركة المحاصة (undeclared/joint venture company) and شركة التوصية بالأسهم (partnership limited by shares) were discontinued under it.

  • شركة التضامن (General Partnership) — two or more partners who are jointly and severally liable for the firm's debts with their personal assets; used by small partner-run businesses.
  • شركة التوصية البسيطة (Limited Partnership) — combines at least one general partner with unlimited liability and one or more limited partners liable only up to their contribution; used where passive investors back an active manager.
  • الشركة ذات المسؤولية المحدودة (Limited Liability Company, LLC) — the most common form; shareholders are liable only to the extent of their shares, and it may be formed by a single shareholder as a شركة الشخص الواحد (single-shareholder company).
  • شركة المساهمة (Joint Stock Company, JSC) — capital divided into negotiable shares with liability limited to the shares held; required for listing on the exchange and typical of large or regulated businesses.
  • شركة المساهمة المبسطة (Simplified Joint Stock Company) — introduced by the current Companies Law; a share-based company with flexible governance and share classes, founded by one or more natural or legal persons, designed for start-ups and venture-capital structures.

Two further regimes operate on top of these forms rather than beside them:

  • الشركة المهنية (Professional Company) — a company practising a licensed profession (law, audit, engineering and similar), formed in one of the forms above and subject to the professional-companies rules.
  • الشركة غير الربحية (Non-Profit Company) — a company whose profits are not distributed to shareholders but applied to its stated purpose.

Structures that are registered in the Commercial Register without being companies in their own right include the مؤسسة فردية (sole proprietorship), the فرع شركة أجنبية (branch of a foreign company) and the المقر الإقليمي (regional headquarters); foreign-owned entities additionally require a licence from the وزارة الاستثمار (Ministry of Investment) before registration.

Available Information

The Commercial Register is a public register in the sense that its core identifying data can be checked by anyone. Through the Ministry of Commerce's free enquiry service a search can be run by commercial registration number, business name, activity, entity type or city, and it returns the entity's registered name, CR number, legal form, current status (active, suspended, cancelled), declared capital, registered commercial activities, city, date of issue and registered contact details. This makes it possible to confirm that a counterparty exists, that its registration is in force, and that the trade name and activities it presents are the ones actually recorded.

Deeper corporate information — the identity of partners and shareholders, the content of the incorporation contract, and the powers of managers and authorised signatories — is held in the register but is released in a controlled way, principally through واثق (Wathq) to banks, government entities and licensed subscribers, and through certified documents obtained by the company itself or by parties with a legitimate interest. Incorporation contracts and their amendments are also published in the official gazette أم القرى (Umm Al-Qura), which makes the founding terms of registered companies traceable. Financial statements are not published in the Commercial Register for private companies; listed joint stock companies disclose theirs under the rules of the هيئة السوق المالية (Capital Market Authority).

Purchasable Documents

The following documents can be obtained in respect of a Saudi registered entity. Most are issued electronically through the Saudi Business Center or the Ministry of Commerce, and certified paper or attested versions can be requested where a document is needed abroad.

  • شهادة السجل التجاري / وثيقة السجل التجاري (Commercial Registration Certificate) — the primary proof of registration, showing the CR number, registered name, legal form, capital, activities, address and status. It is the document banks, government bodies, tenders and counterparties ask for to establish that a business legally exists.
  • بيانات السجل التجاري (Commercial Register data record / extract) — a printed or electronic statement of the register entry as it currently stands, used for due diligence, KYC checks and confirming that details such as capital or activities have been updated.
  • عقد التأسيس (Articles of Association) and النظام الأساس (Bylaws) — the constitutional documents filed with the register, setting out shareholders, shareholdings, management powers and internal rules; required for banking, corporate transactions and litigation, and for verifying who may sign on behalf of the company.
  • مستخرج الشركاء وصلاحيات المديرين (Partners and managers' powers record, available through واثق / Wathq) — a verified statement of the current owners and of the persons authorised to bind the company, used mainly by banks and government entities for signatory verification.
  • شهادة حجز الاسم التجاري (Trade Name Reservation Certificate) — confirmation that a trade name has been reserved for the applicant under the نظام الأسماء التجارية (Law of Trade Names), used before incorporation and in trade-name disputes.
  • الإعلان في صحيفة أم القرى (Publication in the Umm Al-Qura Official Gazette) — the official notice of incorporation or of amendments to the company's constitutional documents, used as evidence of the date and content of a corporate change.
  • شهادة شطب السجل التجاري (Certificate of Cancellation of Commercial Registration) — confirmation that a registration has been struck off, used to close bank accounts and terminate obligations with other authorities.
  • شهادة عضوية الغرفة التجارية (Chamber of Commerce Membership Certificate) — issued by the competent chamber rather than by the register itself, but routinely requested alongside the CR certificate and used for document attestation and trade paperwork.

Where a document is required for use outside Saudi Arabia, it is normally legalised through the Ministry of Commerce and the وزارة الخارجية (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Saudi business register searchable online?

Yes. The Ministry of Commerce provides a free "Query about Commercial Registration Data" service that can be searched by CR number, business name, activity, entity type or city, and returns the entity's core register data.

What is a CR number in Saudi Arabia?

The رقم السجل التجاري (Commercial Registration number) is the unique identifier assigned to a business when it is entered in the Commercial Register. It is used with banks, tax and social-insurance authorities, ministries and commercial counterparties.

How do I get a company extract in Saudi Arabia?

The registered owner or manager can issue the commercial registration document and related records electronically through the Saudi Business Center at business.sa. Third parties can verify core data free of charge through the Ministry of Commerce enquiry service, or obtain verified data through the Wathq platform if they are an eligible subscriber.

Does a Saudi commercial registration still need to be renewed?

Under the Law of Commercial Register in force since 3 April 2025, registrations are no longer renewed periodically. Instead the holder must complete an annual electronic confirmation of the register data; failure to confirm leads to suspension and ultimately to cancellation of the registration.

Do I still need separate registrations for each branch or each city?

No. The current law establishes a single unified commercial registration covering the business's activities throughout the Kingdom, and sub-registers have been discontinued, with a transitional period for existing entities to regularise their position.

Are shareholders of Saudi companies publicly visible?

Not through the free public enquiry service. Ownership and management-authority data is held in the register and released through the Wathq platform to eligible subscribers, through certified documents, and — for incorporation and amendment terms — through publication in the Umm Al-Qura official gazette.

Sources

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