Post by Mustafa Hasan Lakhani

From Family Enterprises to Corporates: Saudi Arabia’s Regulatory Transformation While revisiting my earlier academic work, I came across my research paper presented at the CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance Conference, Cologne, Germany (August 2016), titled “GCC Family Entrepreneurship – Issues & Resolve” The research examined Saudi Arabia’s regulatory and institutional transformation, particularly the transition of family-owned enterprises into formal corporate structures, driven by international commitments and domestic economic reforms. Following Saudi Arabia’s engagement under the 1995 Barcelona Declaration and cooperation frameworks with the European Union, the Kingdom undertook key legislative reforms, including the Competition Law (June 2005), aimed at promoting market fairness, competition, and private sector growth. Parallel reforms in the capital market space, anchored by the Capital Market Law (2003), led to the establishment of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and Tadawul, strengthening governance, disclosure, and investor protection. A core focus of the study was financial reporting convergence, particularly IFRS adoption in Saudi Arabia, where January 1, 2016 was designated as the comparative year for listed companies under the stewardship of SOCPA. The research was further enriched by my professional experience with large family-owned conglomerates in the region, providing practical insight into the governance and reporting challenges faced during the journey from family ownership to corporatization. I acknowledge with appreciation all those who convened and organized the conference. I also extend my acknowledgment to Mujtaba Mehmood, Joint Researcher on the topic, for his valuable contribution. Prof. Dr. Rene Schmidpeter, Professor Samuel O Idowu PhD, MSc, Chartered Governance Pro, Dr. Ulrich Soénius, Prof. Dr. habil. Lisa Fröhlich, Patrick Bungard, Mary-Anne Ouma-Mbasro, Matthias Mühlen, Jan Philipp Laurinat, Detlev Grimmelt, Günther Horzetzky, Dr. Catlin Ishihara Powers, Danica Purg, Brad Googins, Andre Habisch, Manhong Mannie Liu, Katharina Tomoff, Prof. Dr. Carolyn Hutter, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Altenburger, Prof. Dr. Henry Schäfer, Dr. Friedrich Völker, MBA, Christina Weidinger, Markus Raueiser, Dagmar Lund-Durlacher, Hanno Martens, Carsten Deckert, Dr. Friedrich Glauner, Joop Remmé, Prof. Dr. Christoph Willers, Ihar Sahakiants, Dr. Nayan Mitra (PhD), Dr. Rene Rüth, Prof. Dr. Thomas Wunder, Hermann Tribuser, Prof. Dr. Christopher Stehr