Implementing regulations issued 30 March 2026 under Law No. 2 of 2017 and the Companies Regulations allowing statutory notices (capital reductions, liquidations, name changes, licence cancellations) to be published on the Authority's official electronic platform instead of newspapers, with the platform as official record kept for at least ten years; commencement set by the Registrar.
RAKEZ Implementing Regulations No. (1) of 2026 replace newspaper advertisements with publication on the Authority's official electronic platform for the statutory notices that RAKEZ companies must publish. They were issued by the Board of Directors of the RAK Economic Zone Authority under Law No. (2) of 2017 and the Companies Regulations, are dated 30 March 2026 (Issue No. 01, reference REGR/PLCY-005), and under Article 2 come into force on such date as may be determined by the Registrar.
Article 3 applies the Regulations to every notice the Companies Regulations require to be published and names the main cases: reduction of share capital, liquidation, change of company name and cancellation of a licence, plus any other matter the Registrar specifies. Article 4 defines the Official Electronic Platform, the Publication Date and the Statutory Notice, and provides that references in the Companies Regulations to publication in a newspaper are read as references to electronic publication, so that a requirement to publish in several newspapers is satisfied by one electronic publication.
The procedure is in Articles 5 to 8. The company submits the notice to the Registrar in the prescribed form with its full text, the company's identity, the provision under which it is published and supporting documents; the Registrar may require electronic submission and refuse non-compliant filings (Article 5). The Registrar reviews each notice and may approve it, refuse it or require changes, and nothing is published without approval (Article 6). Once approved, the Registrar arranges publication on the platform; the notice is published when it first becomes publicly accessible there, and that satisfies any newspaper publication requirement (Article 7). It stays accessible for the period the Companies Regulations require or, if none, for the period the Registrar sets, and removal afterwards does not affect validity (Article 8).
Article 9 makes the platform the official record and evidence of publication, requires the Registrar to keep an electronic archive retained for not less than ten years, and allows confirmation of publication to be issued on request. Articles 10 to 12 give electronic publication full legal effect: it constitutes valid and sufficient publication under the Companies Regulations, no newspaper publication is needed unless the Registrar directs it, and it satisfies the publication requirements for capital reductions and liquidations in particular. Article 13 requires the platform to be publicly accessible and searchable by company name, registration number, notice type and publication date, and provides that temporary outages do not invalidate publication. Article 14 preserves notices already published in newspapers before commencement and lets incomplete obligations be finished electronically if the Registrar directs. Articles 15 and 16 let the Registrar issue binding directions and let the Authority designate one or more platforms. The Regulations contain no fee or penalty provisions; they are the current text on rakez.com, with commencement in the Registrar's hands.
Every company registered with the RAK Economic Zone Authority that must publish a statutory notice under the Companies Regulations, in particular on a reduction of share capital, a liquidation, a change of name or a cancellation of licence, together with its liquidators and corporate service providers who file the notices, and the Registrar who approves and publishes them.
| Article 2 | Commencement: the Implementing Regulations come into force on such date as may be determined by the Registrar. |
| Article 3 | Application: covers any notice the Companies Regulations require to be published, expressly including reduction of share capital, liquidation, change of company name and cancellation of licence, and any other matter the Registrar specifies. |
| Article 4 | Interpretation: defines the Official Electronic Platform, Publication Date and Statutory Notice; references to newspaper publication mean electronic publication, and a requirement to publish in several newspapers is met by one electronic publication. |
| Article 5 | Statutory notices are submitted to the Registrar in the prescribed form with the full text, the company's identity, the relevant provision and supporting documents; the Registrar may require electronic submission and refuse non-compliant submissions. |
| Article 6 | The Registrar reviews each notice for compliance and may approve it, refuse it or require changes; no notice is published without the Registrar's approval. |
| Article 7 | After approval the Registrar arranges publication on the platform; a notice is published when it first becomes publicly accessible there, and this satisfies any newspaper publication requirement. |
| Article 8 | The notice remains accessible for the period the Companies Regulations require or, if none is set, for the period the Registrar determines; removal afterwards does not affect validity. |
| Article 9 | The platform is the official record and evidence of publication; the Registrar keeps an electronic archive retained for not less than ten years and may issue confirmation of publication on request. |
| Article 10 | Electronic publication constitutes valid and sufficient publication under the Companies Regulations and no newspaper publication is required unless the Registrar directs otherwise. |
| Articles 11–12 | Publication under the Regulations satisfies any publication requirement for a reduction of share capital and for a liquidation. |
| Article 13 | The platform must be publicly accessible and searchable by company name, registration number, notice type and publication date; temporary technical outages do not invalidate a publication. |
| Article 14 | Transitional: notices published in newspapers before commencement remain valid, incomplete obligations may be completed electronically if the Registrar directs, and publication periods run from the Publication Date. |
Once the Registrar activates these Regulations, the capital reductions, liquidations, name changes and licence cancellations we handle for RAKEZ clients no longer need newspaper advertisements. The Companies Regulations require a liquidation to be announced in two local daily newspapers with a 45-day objection period, which has meant drafting, placing and paying for advertisements and collecting tear sheets as evidence; under Articles 7 and 9 a single approved notice on the platform does that job and the Registrar's archive is the proof. Our corporate secretarial team prepares the notice in the prescribed form with the resolution and supporting documents under Article 5, obtains approval under Article 6, and then counts the objection period from the Publication Date. We also obtain the Registrar's confirmation of publication under Article 9 for the liquidation file and for banks closing the company's accounts. Until the Registrar sets the commencement date, newspaper publication continues under the Companies Regulations.
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