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Find out moreWe are excited to share the latest edition of the Law Update, beautifully and appropriately titled “Sustainable Horizons: The Saudi Arabian Vision.” Giving special honor to the Kingdom’s 2030 vision, this update focuses on a collection of both informative and inspiring articles.
For those in construction, you can learn about how the tendering environment impacts risk-pricing for contractors, the updates on the legal framework of the construction industry and how contractors can protect themselves against financial difficulties.
There is good news too from the kingdom’s banking sector, from which the practice of “Open Banking” is being pushed for! But what is open banking? We’re answering that too.
Also . . . Are there any women trail blazers in Saudi Arabia you can name? We’ll help you with that. We cover how the Middle East has been making strides in empowering women in the entrepreneurial space,most notably in STEM fields.
Read the full editionModher Majeed - Senior Associate - Corporate Structuring
May 2016
Such a system operates under certain rules and laws that aim to guarantee the confidentiality of secure and protected procurement procedures which ensure the delivery of the service. This system has achieved great success in many countries and is considered a globally applicable system.
In Iraq, and despite the development which has occurred in the accredited mechanism of the payment of money globally, the banks and companies specialised in this field are not up to the level of payment processing. The only bank which issues internationally accredited electronic payment cards is the Trade Bank of Iraq. Further, another example of e-payment in Iraq is a prepaid credit card private company which is licensed by the Central Bank of Iraq and associated with the Iraqis’ Al Rafidain and Al Rasheed banks (public sector banks) to provide Iraqi employees with their pensions. Taking into consideration the aspiration of the Iraqi market to adopt electronic payments, in both the public and the private sector, and for the importance of keeping up with developments in this field, the Council of Ministers issued Regulation No. (3) of 2014 (“Regulation”), based on the provisions of subsection (iii) of Article (80) of the Constitution and Article 27 of the Electronic Signature and Electronic Transaction Law, in order to clarify the steps for setting up companies specialised in electronic payment processing. Thus, it is important to take into account the following:
Expanding Knowledge on the Activities of the Electronic Payment Company
Pursuant to the Regulation, the activities which an e-payment company can conduct in Iraq, are specified as follows:
To obtain an electronic payment licence for conducting electronic payment services, it is important to note the following:
The Submission of the Request to Obtain the Licence
To obtain a licence from the CBI to conduct such activities, the following are required:
Suspension of the licence
Suspension of such an electronic payment provider’s licence may occur in the following circumstances:
Conclusion
The development of this Regulation strongly indicates that Iraq is a promising market for electronic payment systems. The Iraqi market is in need of such services which can be used by governmental departments and private companies, for the payment of salaries for example, as well as in malls and trading shops for the processing of consumer payments.
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