Article 29 of the Saudi Cooperative Societies Law

This article creates a body at the level of the whole cooperative sector, the council of societies, providing that there is to be a council of societies.

But the article does not itself regulate this council. It refers to the Regulations (the Law's Implementing Regulations under Article 1) the specification of:

• How it is composed.
• Its powers.
• The organization of its financial and administrative affairs.
• Its relationship with societies.
• The extent of its benefit from the subsidies and privileges granted to societies.

This means that all the details of this council, from its membership to its powers and funding, are known from the Regulations and not from this article. Particular powers for it should not be assumed without referring to them.

Note that the article speaks of the «extent» of its benefit from subsidies and privileges, meaning the text does not establish its benefit from them in full but leaves the scope to the Regulations.

This council differs from a society's board of directors, which manages each society individually; the council of societies is a general body connected with the societies as the Regulations specify.

In context, this article is linked to Article 28, which sets out how a society's profits are distributed, from 20% to the statutory reserve, to no more than 20% of the remainder as profit on shares and no more than 10% for social services, with the rest as patronage returns.

Anyone who wants to know their society's relationship with the council of societies should refer to the Implementing Regulations, or consult a lawyer who specializes in commercial and corporate cases.