The Senate returned to the deputies the law amending the Companies Law, after making amendments to it, with suspicion of a constitutional violation in the deputies’ amendment to Article 135 of the law.

During today’s Wednesday session, chaired by Council Speaker Faisal Al-Fayez, and in the presence of Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Al-Khasawneh, and the cabinet, the Council indicated that the amendment of the deputies included paragraphs of Article 135 that were not covered by the draft law received from the government, which contradicts the decisions issued by the Higher Council for the Interpretation of the Constitution and the Constitutional Court. Because it goes beyond the objectives and adds new provisions that are not related to the objectives for which the text was drawn up.

The amendment received by the government to the draft law related only to paragraph (d) of Article 135, which stipulates the cancellation of the phrase (Jordanian Investment Corporation Law and the regulations issued pursuant thereto and any other legislation amending or replacing it), and replacing it with the phrase (instructions issued by the Council of Ministers for this purpose) in relation to The amendment of the deputies included all the paragraphs of Article 135.

The notables also rejected the deputies’ amendment to Article 6, which obliges the Companies Controller to announce the registration of any company and any amendment to its data through approved electronic means, while the Council approved the government’s decision stipulating that this data be published only on the website of the Companies Control Department. A paragraph added by the deputies, allowing foreign venture capital companies to practice their work inside Jordan according to instructions issued by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply for this purpose.

The Council recommended the government to form a committee of specialists to draft a new corporate law, which deals with articles not included in the project submitted by the government, and takes into account developments in the field of technology, corporate financing, the method of establishing joint-stock companies, and others, pointing out that the current project is a step towards improving the investment environment.

The draft law amending the Companies Law comes to transfer the articles related to the establishment of venture capital companies from the system currently in force to the Companies Law, and to complete the legislative system to improve the investment environment, especially those related to investment funds.

The Council also recommended that the government study the development of a new trade law instead of the current law that was drawn up in 1964.

In turn, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Youssef Al-Shamali affirmed the government’s keenness to implement the recommendations of the Senate regarding the draft law amending the Companies Law.