BAHRAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Rad El Treki, Noor Al Rayes, Aayush Kainya and Mohamed Al Sari, Al Tamimi & Co.
4.7 Third-Party Participation Third parties such as competitors, customers and suppliers serve as critical sources of market intelli - gence, primarily through formal “market testing” and the right to lodge complaints. The CPA is empowered to solicit information from any person or entity to eval - uate the competitive impact of a deal; in practice, this often involves the CPA issuing written questionnaires to key customers and rivals to verify market shares, barriers to entry and the potential for price increases. While there is no mandatory public hearing, third par - ties with a “legitimate interest” can proactively submit complaints or observations that may trigger a deeper investigation or the adoption of specific remedies. Notably, the 2022 decision to unwind a completed merger following a competitor’s complaint under - scores the significant weight the Authority gives to third-party grievances. 4.8 Confidentiality and Transparency The handling of confidential information is a strictly guarded administrative process, while it can be said that overall transparency remains relatively limited compared to more established Western regimes. Under the Competition Law, the CPA is legally bound to protect business secrets and proprietary data gath - ered during an investigation, and officials can face criminal penalties for the unauthorised disclosure of sensitive information. In practice, parties must submit non-confidential versions of their filings and market studies, which the CPA may use for market testing or limited public consultation. Transparency regarding the publication of decisions is still evolving; while the law permits the Authority to publish its final rulings, in practice, only summa - ry results or major landmark decisions are typically made public, often with sensitive commercial details redacted. Furthermore, unlike the EU system, there is no auto - matic right for third parties to access the file, and the CPA maintains high discretion over which documents are shared with intervenors, prioritising the protection of the notifying parties’ competitive standing during the 90-day review period.
4.9 Appeals and Judicial Review of Merger Decisions Any party affected by a merger control decision – including prohibitions, conditional clearances or administrative fines – has a two-tiered avenue for challenge: an initial administrative grievance followed by judicial appeal. Under the Competition Law, parties may first file a grievance directly with the MOIC within 15 days of the decision. If the grievance is rejected (or met with silence for 30 days), an appeal can be lodged before the High Court (Administrative Division) within 60 days. 5. FDI and National Security Screening 5.1 Existence and Objectives of FDI/National Security Regime There is no standalone FDI Act, but national security screening is a mandatory, integrated part of the com - mercial licensing process administered through the Sijilat system, where the shareholders of a Bahrain entity are individuals in their personal capacities. Pursuant to the Commercial Companies Law and Min - isterial Decision No 40 of 2021, all entities are subject to Bahrain’s foreign ownership framework and must comply with the applicable regulatory requirements. While the government of Bahrain has significantly liberalised the investment regime and permits up to 100% foreign ownership across the majority of com - mercial activities, certain regulated sectors continue to be subject to ownership restrictions. By way of example, activities such as manpower supply require 100% Bahraini ownership, while specific trading and commercial activities require the participation of at least one share owned by a Bahraini or Gulf Coop - eration Council (GCC) national shareholder. In such cases, the Bahraini or GCC shareholder must be a natural person or a legal entity that is owned, directly and ultimately at every level, by GCC nationals. In addition, where individual shareholders are involved, the MOI mandates the issuance of a security clear - ance as a prerequisite to approval. Accordingly, the MOIC will not approve a new commercial licence or any change in ownership structure unless the
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