Legal update
The new Enforcement Law takes effect on 28 October 2026
Bills of exchange and promissory notes must be registered electronically to be enforced directly, enforcement expires ten years after maturity, and creditors gain asset tracing tools.
The new Enforcement Law was issued by Royal Decree No. M/237 on 20 April 2026, published in the Official Gazette on 1 May 2026, and enters into force on 28 October 2026, replacing the Enforcement Law of 2012. Implementing regulations are due within the same 180 days.
The most immediate change concerns negotiable instruments. Bills of exchange and promissory notes will be directly enforceable only if they are registered on the national electronic platforms; cheques remain enforceable without registration. Instruments issued before 28 October 2026 remain directly enforceable, even if unregistered, for one year from that date.
Enforcement now has a time limit: an application is inadmissible more than ten years after the instrument fell due. Creditors gain stronger tools. Debtors must disclose their assets, courts can order third parties to disclose, and asset tracing may be ordered where concealment is suspected. Imprisonment becomes a last resort, while hiding or dissipating assets carries heavier criminal penalties.
Foreign judgments and arbitral awards remain enforceable on the existing basis of reciprocity and treaty obligations, but the jurisdictional objection now applies only where Saudi courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Before 28 October, creditors should list unregistered notes, register them within the transition window, and make sure key settlements are documented in an enforceable form.