EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd and Mariam Rabie, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
either the employment contract, employment prac - tice, or any other employer resolution or internal work regulation, grants the employee better rights and/or benefits not provided by the provisions of the Labour Law, said rule and/or stipulation shall remain valid as it provides better benefits in the interests of the employees. The Egyptian Income Tax Law No 91 of 2005 provides that the monthly gross salaries of employees shall be subject to taxes, to be deducted from each employ - ee’s monthly gross salary, based on the relevant tax bracket of each employee’s annual salary. In accordance with the Egyptian Social Insurance and Pensions Law No 148 of 2019, all Egyptian entities are required to register with the Social Insurance Authority and insure their employees. The social insurance contribution’s percentage is 29.75% of the monthly gross salary, capped at EGP16,700, which is required to be paid to the Social Insurance Authority as follows: • 18.75% of the monthly gross salary shall be borne by the employer; and • 11% of the monthly gross salary shall be borne by the relevant employee. 2.6 National Security Review GAFI requires any foreign shareholder to submit an application for and obtain a security clearance, although in practice GAFI usually approves changes in shareholding structures and the incorporation of companies before the outcome of such security clear - ance procedure, with the exception of certain nation - alities, such as China, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Israel, Iran, Belarus, Bangladesh, Iraq and Palestine, as such restricted nationalities require an advance security clearance. However, GAFI has recently started to relax the condition of obtaining security clearance prior to certifying general assembly minutes approving new shareholders on a case-by-case basis. A security clearance must be obtained for any for - eigner to work or do business in Egypt. Furthermore, according to Law No 305 of 2015 on work permit pro - cedures and requirements for foreigners, work permits
must also be obtained for any foreign employees to be employed by the relevant company. A national security review is also required in order to acquire businesses operating in certain sectors, such as hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturing com - panies. 3. Recent Legal Developments 3.1 Significant Court Decisions or Legal Developments The most significant recent legal developments in Egypt include the following: • The issuance of the Executive Regulations of the Data Protection Law by virtue of Ministry of Com - munications and Information Technology Decree No 816 of 2025, and the establishment of the Personal Data Protection Centre, granting persons subject to the law a grace period of one year to legitimise their position with the Executive Regula - tions. Accordingly, the effectiveness of the Execu - tive Regulations shall be as of 2 November 2026. • The amendment of the Antitrust Law in December 2022 to replace the post-notification regime for a transaction with a pre-merger control system, whereby the ECA is given the authority to review and approve proposed mergers and acquisitions prior to entering into the transaction, and issuance of the Executive Regulations thereof in 2024 and effectiveness of the new merger control regime as of 1 June 2024. • The FRA issued Decree No 286 of 2023 regarding the rules and procedures for the establishment and licensing of emerging financial technology compa - nies to engage in non-banking financing activities including, inter alia, real estate financing, consumer financing and factoring. • By virtue of Law No 173 of 2023, the foreign own - ership restriction on importation has been lifted, permitting limited liability companies 51% of the quotas of which are owned by non-Egyptian part - ners to register in the Importers’ Registry, provided that the total duration of registration does not exceed ten years from the date of entry into force of said law.
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