The State of Qatar has recently introduced Law No.1 of 2020 (the Unified Economic Register Law). The Unified Economic Register Law compels the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) to establish a unified economic registry (the UE Registry), with the goal of encouraging transparency in economic and financial transactions (and creating a register of beneficial ownership). The law will be implemented when its executive regulations are published.

Unified Economic Number

Pursuant to Article 3 of the Unified Economic Register Law all economic establishments, legal arrangements, non-profit organisations and freelance professionals will be issued a number when they are licenced or registered for the first time. 

It is not clear at this time what the process will be for issuing such numbers to existing entities. We expect the process for this to be set out in executive regulations (considered below).

Process for obtaining a Unified Economic Number on registration

Article 3 of the Unified Economic Register Law provides that an applicant for licensing, registration, or renewal of such registration is required to submit a form to MOCI together with supporting documentation. Until the executive regulations are published, it is unclear if this will form part of the process of applying for/renewing an entity's commercial registration.

Where such an applicant is a legal person or legal arrangement, they are required to attach a statement of the 'Real Beneficiary' (defined as being the natural person who ultimately owns or actively controls a juristic person or legal arrangement, or the natural person whose operations are conducted for him).

Unified Economic Registry

Article 2 of the Unified Economic Register Law provides that the UE Registry shall maintain the following registers/records:

• the Unified Register for Real Beneficiaries (a register containing details of 'Real Beneficiaries' (as defined above));
• an entity's commercial registration;
• the Register of Legal Arrangements (containing details on trust structures and similar arrangements);
• the Register for Non-Profit Organizations (containing details on charitable organisations);
• the Register of Freelance Professionals (containing details on self-employed individuals); and
• any other similar record similar to those mentioned above.

Beneficial ownership information

Article 5 of the Unified Economic Register Law compels legal persons and legal arrangements (such as a trust structure) to hold a sufficient, up-to-date and accurate information on 'Real Beneficiaries', and submit a copy of the same to MOCI. We will only be aware of the deadline for compliance when the law's executive regulations are published.

Publically available documentation

Previously company information in Qatar was confidential, however the Unified Economic Register Law, at Article 6, compels MOCI to make 'Basic Information' relevant to the following entities available to the public:

• 'Economic Establishments' which are defined as a sole enterprise, company, or legal entity;
•  'Legal Arrangements' which are defined as a trust structure or any other similar legal structure;
• 'Non-Profit Organisations' which are defined as an entity established with the purpose of providing a public benefit; and
• 'Freelance Professionals' which are defined as self-employed individuals.

'Basic Information' is defined as being information which allows for the identification of the entity stated above and which specifies the legal structure, main characteristics and purpose for establishment of such an entity.

In order to exercise their right of access, members of the public will be able to make an application to MOCI to obtain an extract of the Unified Economic Register or a certificate of particular information, or a certificate of absence in the case of non-registration.

Required information

As well as the category of information discussed above, referred to as 'Basic Information', the Unified Economic Register Law refers to a further category of information, being 'Required Information'. 'Required Information' is defined as being information relating to the Real Beneficiary which juristic persons and legal arrangements must disclose when requesting registration or a licence or to amend or renew the same.

Article 7 of the Unified Economic Register Law provides that the MOCI must make available the 'Required Information' to all law enforcement authorities and juridical bodies, as well as audit/monitoring authorities, financial institutions and businesses and non-profit professions as defined in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Law (Law No. 20 of 2019)(the AML Law)(please see our article on the same here) as well as tax authorities, and other public authorities. 

The 'Required Information' will only be disclosed to financial institutions and businesses to the extent that it is necessary to carry out legally necessary due diligence procedures in connection with the AML Law.

Transfer of Information

MOCI is authorised to exchange 'Basic Information' and 'Required Information', with parallel foreign authorities pursuant to Article 8 of the Unified Economic Register Law.

Penalties

Potential penalties for breaching the Unified Economic Register Law, when enacted, will include (pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the Unified Economic Registry Law):

• MOCI can issue a written warning;
• the managers/directors/trustees of economic establishments/legal arrangements (such as trust structures) can be suspended for up to one year;
• the licence of the entity in breach can be suspended for up to one year;
• the licence/registration of the entity in breach can be cancelled; and 
• in relation to Article 5 of the Unified Economic Registry Law (in relation to the provision of beneficial ownership information) a breach can be punishable by imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and/or a fine not exceeding QAR 500,000.

Regulation

H.H. the Amir has recently approved the Cabinet Decision No. 12 of 2020 enacting the executive regulations implementing the Unified Economic Registry Law and we will update this article upon the publication of the same. 

Further information

For further information in relation to the Unified Economic Register and its applicability to you or your business, please contact:

Ahmad Anani

Alistair Stewart 

Eithar Al Kiyumi