Kuwait’s commercial landscape may be in for a shake-up, as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry mulls a bold move: scrapping business licenses that have gathered dust for half a year or expired more than a year ago.
The proposal, currently under legal scrutiny, comes as ministry offices are flooded with visitors scrambling to sort out everything from forgotten licenses to the recently tightened “beneficial owner” disclosure rules. These rules have caught many businesses off guard, prompting a surge in last-minute compliance efforts to avoid stiff penalties.
Inside the ministry, two camps are debating the legal high ground. One side urges caution, warning that canceling licenses without explicit legal backing could spark lawsuits—especially in cases where canceled licenses are tied to commercial properties or businesses with unresolved financial histories. According to this view, no license should be revoked without the owner’s written consent.
The opposing side is pushing for a more aggressive cleanup. Citing the Companies Law and Article 11/3 of Law No. 111 of 2013, this group argues that the ministry has every right to pull the plug on long-idle or expired licenses—particularly if no effort has been made to renew them. This approach, supporters say, would not only streamline Kuwait’s commercial registry but also ease the burden on overwhelmed auditors trying to meet the new “actual beneficiary” disclosure demands.
Beneath the legal wrangling lies a stark reality: Kuwait’s registry is cluttered with thousands of deadbeat licenses—some never even used, others gone silent for years without filing a single financial report.
The new pressure comes on the heels of beefed-up regulations targeting financial secrecy. Non-compliance with “beneficial owner” registration can now cost businesses up to half a million dinars under Kuwait’s Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law. Even basic violations start at 1,000 dinars.
Despite the pressure, businesses are slowly catching up. About 60% of the 226,938 active licenses have submitted the required owner data. The ministry wants that number up to 90% by June, part of Kuwait’s broader effort to meet international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
To help, the ministry has added a user-friendly “Actual Beneficiary Owner” service to the Sahl Business platform, making compliance less of a bureaucratic headache. Just days after this feature launched, over 31,000 companies rushed to register.
Under Ministerial Resolution No. 16 of 2025, all commercial entities—whether companies or sole proprietorships—must disclose their real owners. Exemptions apply only to publicly traded and government-owned entities.
The tug-of-war over the cancellation authority reflects broader tensions in Kuwait’s regulatory push: balancing legal safeguards with the need for efficiency and transparency. Whatever the final verdict, the outcome is set to redraw the contours of doing business in the country—cleaning house and tightening oversight, one dormant license at a time.
