Brokerage Law Prompts Competitiveness in Saudi Real Estate Sector

 Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Brokerage Law Prompts Competitiveness in Saudi Real Estate Sector

 Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

CEO of Saudi Arabia's Real Estate General Authority (REGA) Abdallah al-Hammad said the adoption of the brokerage law will help create an attractive competitive environment in the sector according to governance that raises the quality of services, overcomes obstacles and preserves the rights of brokers.

He stressed that the sector will help achieve sustainable development, ensure good quality in its dealings and services, and support real estate establishments.

In late June, the Saudi cabinet approved the Real Estate Brokerage Law to regulate the services and reduce disputes.

The law helps govern transactions and ensures the brokerage contracts are reliable.

It covers all real estate activities and services and is exercised exclusively by licensed and qualified parties.

The regulation benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers.

Hammad stressed that the law is a part of the legislation developed to maintain real estate rights.

It promotes the quality of services and reduces disputes, he remarked, adding that under the law, mediation is required by licensees.

The new law helps achieve Vision 2030, which aims to increase the Kingdom's global real estate indicators classification.

Hammad made the remarks during an event organized by the Real Estate Commission of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.

The event was attended by businessmen and women who discussed the newly approved law.

Hammad underlined the role played by the Kingdom’s chambers to achieve the law’s objectives, namely supporting real estate establishments in various regions, raising the efficiency of human capital and the awareness of the target audience in the real estate sector, and striving to enable the sector to provide quality real estate services in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

All these goals aim to achieve the growth, sustainability and development of the real estate sector.



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.