Article 25 of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce Law

This article sets out who is answerable for the chamber's funds, and to whom:

Paragraph 1: the chamber's president and members

• They are answerable to the chamber's General Assembly.
• For misusing or wasting the chamber's funds, and for any other violation of the Law.

Paragraph 2: the Secretary General

• He or she is answerable to the chamber's board of directors.
• For misusing or wasting the chamber's assets and funds, and for any other violation of the Law within his or her area of responsibility.

Limitation period (in both cases):

• A liability claim is not heard after 5 years from the date the act constituting the violation was discovered, not from the date it occurred.
• Cases of fraud and forgery are excepted from this period, which does not apply to them.

This shows a chain of accountability: the General Assembly, made up of all subscribers, holds the board to account, and the board holds the Secretary General to account. The article does not set out the detailed procedures for bringing such a claim or the body that hears it.

The article is linked to Article 24, which requires the chamber's president, deputies, members and Secretary General to notify the board of any interest in the chamber's contracts and to stay out of the deliberations and voting on them, and to Article 26, which allows the Minister, by a reasoned decision, to dissolve the board if it exceeds its powers or a dispute among its members obstructs the chamber's work. Anyone with a question about holding a chamber's management to account should consult a lawyer specializing in commercial and corporate matters.