Partnership of expatriate in commercial activity without a foreign investment license is cover-up

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The National Program to Combat Commercial Concealment revealed a number of cases that fall under commercial concealment or cover-up (tasattur). It also clarified the difference between commercial concealment and covering up a violation.

The program explained that cases of tasattur include a Saudi citizen handing over a commercial establishment to a non-Saudi in exchange for a monthly sum; a non-Saudi working as a partner in any commercial activity without a foreign investment license; a non-Saudi working in any commercial activity in the name of a Saudi citizen such as brokerage or mediation; empowering a non-Saudi, such as a domestic worker, from practicing any commercial activity.

The program highlighted the difference between commercial cover-up and cover-up of violating workers. The commercial cover-up includes a foreign worker managing an establishment, which is registered in the name of a Saudi citizen and earns profits, while the agreement to cover-up workers is that the Saudi citizen sponsors a non-Saudi person in exchange for a monthly sum from him without supervising his work.

The program stressed that commercial concealment is a crime because the state granted the right to commercial work to Saudi citizens and not to grant this right to anyone else, defining commercial concealment as the citizen enabling a non-Saudi to practice any commercial activity prohibited by law without obtaining a foreign investment license.