Commercial papers were executive instruments without requiring platform registration. 

Bills of exchange and promissory notes must be registered on the national electronic platform (Nafith Platform); however, instruments issued prior to the effective date of the new law remain enforceable for one year from the effective date of the new law, provided they otherwise comply with all other requirements. 

Competent authorities had up to 10 days to disclose debtor assets. 

Competent authorities must respond to execution-related court orders within three working days; asset registries (under the Saudi Business Center, Real Estate General Authority) must also provide data within three working days.

After five days without payment or asset disclosure, the court could impose measures including travel bans, disclosure, attachment, and restrictions on dealings.

After five working days, compulsory execution starts immediately unless the debtor provides a sufficient bank guarantee, in which case a further 10 working days may be granted. Procedures include notifying licensed credit-information agencies, attaching current and future assets, and imposing fines of up to SAR 5,000 per day. Failure to disclose information as required by the execution court may expose the defendant to criminal liability. 

Daily fines of up to SAR 10,000 applied where execution by force was impossible or where the debtor was required to perform personally and failed to do so.

For direct execution, the court may impose a daily fine of up to SAR 10,000; fines accrue to the State Treasury and may be cancelled in whole or in part if the debtor complies.

Travel bans were available as an enforcement measure, but the previous regime did not specify an overall maximum duration. 

Travel bans may be ordered for up to three years and extended up to an aggregate of six years. They expire when the execution request ends and must be lifted in specified cases, including medical necessity, minor debts, professional need, harm to the debtor, or disclosure of sufficient assets. 

The previous regime permitted disclosure and related measures, including inquiries into transfers to spouses, children, and suspected transferees.

The new law creates a dedicated asset-tracking framework. Where concealment or smuggling is indicated, the court may order tracking through the competent department or licensed private service providers (including the use of AI technologies), interrogate relevant persons, and require compliance within three working days.

The old law focused on attachment and the ineffectiveness of dispositions over attached assets.

The plaintiff may seek nullification of certain post-notification transactions, including gifts, early debt payments, and unusual obligations; dispositions after attachment are void.

General debtor offences attracted imprisonment of up to seven years; public servants obstructing execution also faced imprisonment of up to seven years; dissipation of substantial assets attracted imprisonment of up to fifteen years. 

General offences now carry up to three years’ imprisonment and/or a SAR 1 million fine. Public servants obstructing execution face up to five years’ imprisonment. Dissipation of substantial assets (including wrongful transfer or sale) remains punishable by up to fifteen years’ imprisonment, with the criteria for “substantial assets” to be determined by the Attorney General. 

The old framework contemplated licensed execution service providers, but execution remained more court centred.

The minister may assign execution procedures – excluding imprisonment, travel bans, disputes, and judgments – to the competent department, competent authority, or private sector. Licensed providers include judicial sale agents, receivers, asset-recovery providers, asset-tracking providers, and visitation-execution providers.

Except for promissory note maturity (which is governed under the Commercial Papers Law), the prior law did not contain an equivalent express 10-year maturity bar.

Enforcement requests will not be accepted where the maturity date of the executive instrument is more than 10 years old.