Article 13 of the Saudi Commercial Register Law

This article gives the merchant the right to apply for voluntary deregistration from the commercial register, subject to conditions and controls:

• The condition: the merchant must have stopped carrying on his commercial activity.
• The initiative: deregistration here is at the merchant's own request; it is a right of his, not a step the registrar takes on its own.
• Regard to other laws: this is subject to the provisions of the Companies Law and other related laws; if the merchant is a company, for example, what the Companies Law provides must be observed. The article does not detail those provisions.
• Procedures: the application follows the rules set by the Regulations.

This deregistration differs from mandatory deregistration under Article 14, in which the registrar must deregister in specified cases: a final court judgment ordering deregistration, the end of liquidation under the Companies Law or the Bankruptcy Law, or the death of the merchant unless his heirs request an amendment to the registration.

Article 12 is a reminder that the registrar is not responsible for the correctness and accuracy of the data submitted by the merchant, including what he submits in a deregistration application.

Anyone who owns a company and wishes to end its registration would do well to consult a lawyer specializing in commercial and company matters, because the article requires observing the provisions of the Companies Law.