Ministerial Resolution No. 156 of 2026 Puts a Fifteen-Day Clock on Beneficial Ownership Registers

The Minister of Commerce and Industry has issued Ministerial Resolution No. 156 of 2026 amending Ministerial Resolution No. 4 of 2023 on the procedures for identifying the beneficial owner. Article Two directs the competent authorities to implement it and brings it into force from 30 July 2026, the date of issue.

Every legal person must now create a dedicated beneficial owner register recording each beneficial owner's particulars. Entities already registered have fifteen days from the effective date; entities registered afterwards have fifteen days from registration. Where ownership or control changes, the register must be updated within fifteen days of the date the entity learns of the change or ought reasonably to have learned of it. Registers must be kept accurate, accessible and protected against loss, damage or destruction.

The same period governs filing. Both that register and the register of shareholders or partners go to the competent registry within fifteen days of the effective date, or of obtaining the licence and registration.

A separate duty falls on nominees. A person acting as a nominee director or board member must notify the company of that capacity, with the required particulars, within fifteen days of taking up the role. Those already in office have fifteen days from publication.

Enforcement arrived first. Ministerial Resolution No. 37 of 2026, issued on 16 April, withholds the grant or renewal of a licence until the beneficial ownership requirements are satisfied, and sets administrative fines of KD 1,000 to KD 10,000 for non-disclosure or inaccurate disclosure.

WEFAQ's view: the licence link turns this from a filing formality into a trading risk. An entity that lets the fifteen days pass may find its next renewal held until the register is in order.

Read more: for the full analysis, read our companion blog article: “Kuwait's Beneficial Ownership Regime After Resolution No. 156: Fifteen Days, a Register and a Licence at Risk”.