- Kuwaiti government employee may own 100 per cent of a partnership or a one-person company, provided that the employee does not serve as the company’s manager and complies with the regulations established by the Public Institution for Social Security.
The commercial concealment law applies not only to foreigners but also to citizens who conduct business through commercial licenses registered in the names of their mothers, fathers, wives, other relatives or even friends, while not being actual partners or beneficiaries in those businesses.
The sources said a number of Kuwaiti public-sector employees who operate businesses have obtained commercial licenses in the names of relatives who are not genuine partners in the businesses.
Such arrangements are considered a violation of the decree-law on combating commercial concealment, which was published in the Official Gazette and is scheduled to come into force in February next year.
At the same time, the sources clarified that government employment does not prevent a Kuwaiti citizen from becoming a partner in a conventional local company, provided the employee meets the requirements for obtaining the relevant commercial license and is formally registered as an actual beneficiary in the company.
The sources further explained that a Kuwaiti government employee may own 100 per cent of a partnership or a one-person company, provided that the employee does not serve as the company’s manager and complies with the regulations established by the Public Institution for Social Security.
The restrictions are specifically focused on freelance business licenses and individual licenses, the sources said, because the nature of these two license categories requires the license holder to serve as the company’s manager.
