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Saudi Arabia: SA revamps its competition law

 |  March 13, 2019

Saudi Arabia’s competition enforcement will get greater leeway and independence to step in and take action when dealing with violations, Mohammed Al Jasser, chairman of its board of directors, said in an interview in Riyadh. The new law won the approval of the Saudi cabinet last week.

“What we need is to ensure that competition is unhindered and that any violators are taken to task,” said Al Jasser, who’s also a former central bank governor.

“This is a dynamic economy, we cannot stay stagnant,” he said. “We have learned a lot during the previous period. So we are updating, reinvigorating the law.”

Under the revamped rules, the authority will wield powers that it says will make punishments more flexible and effective. One of the changes will eliminate the possibility of permanently canceling company licenses to avoid reducing the number of competitors in a market.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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