The Saudi Movement Toward a Modern Secured Lending Law: A Critical Comparative Analysis with Article 9 of the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code and a Proposal for Further Modernization

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is undertaking a profound process of social transformation and economic development. The Saudi economy needs to be restructured as a result of lessening its dependence on oil and creating socioeconomic opportunities for its citizens. Reforming outdated laws and regulations have become conspicuous to fulfill the requirements of the Saudi new movement. The previous Law of Commercial Lien has shown its limitations in promoting lending transactions and lagged behind all other systems since it contained antique perfection provisions, which were based on possessory security interests. After several years of consideration, Saudi Arabia is now taking the first steps toward the creation of a modern registry and a system of lien priorities applicable to movable assets. This project scrutinizes the Saudi modern registry system and its priority rules under the Saudi new system of 2018. The conclusion of this project suggests that despite the noticeable progress in modernizing secured lending in Saudi Arabia, the new system needs to further regulate its priority rules by having exceptions to the general principle of first-to-file-or-perfect rule. This project sets out the importance of the purchase-money security interest exception to the general priority rules in modern secured lending systems. Otherwise, ancient security devices in the Saudi practice may continue even though the lawmakers’ intention of modernizing the secured lending frameworks