Banks in Kuwait restricted from seizing entire salaries of debtors

• Some banks have seized the entire salaries of clients who are employees in state institutions, ministries, and those working in the private and oil sectors, which violatesArticle (216) of the Code of Civil Procedure, Paragraph (z).

Counselor Abdullah Al-Othman, head of the General Administration of Enforcement, confirmed that banks are prohibited from seizing a debtor’s entire salary, according to Arabic daily Al Rai.

This statement followed a letter from Al-Othman to the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait, Basel Ahmad Al-Haroon, regarding the issuance of Decree-Law No. (59) of (2025), which amends provisions of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law (Decree-Law No. 38 of 1980). The amendment, affecting Articles (227) and (230), addresses the seizure of debtor assets by third parties and establishes that such seizures remain in place unless lifted by the Execution Department.

He added, “Therefore, we may notice that some banks have seized the entire salaries of clients who are employees in state institutions, ministries, and those working in the private and oil sectors, which violates Article (216) of the Code of Civil Procedure, Paragraph (z). This article states that ‘without prejudice to what is stipulated in any other law, the following may not be seized: wages and salaries for which no special law has been issued to regulate the conditions for non-seizure, except to the extent of half.”

Al-Othman requested “instructions be issued to all banks to adhere to the conditions for salary seizure in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned article and the related special laws regulating salary seizure, especially since the seizure reports issued by the Enforcement Department stipulate ‘taking into account the rules established by law regarding salary seizure.”