The aim is to ensure fair competition and combat illegal activities that may harm Bahrain’s market.
The new amendments stipulate that only Bahraini brokers will be allowed to get official licences from the Justice and Islamic Affairs Ministry Survey and Land Registration Bureau.
However, companies with 50 per cent or more Bahrainisation will be granted licences to operate in the market and regulations will be outlined in co-ordination with the Industry and Commerce Ministry.
The brokers must be at least 21 years old and have no other job, as they will be obliged to open offices to run their work, as well as have basic reading and writing skills.
Those who have been found guilty in breach of trust cases will not be given licences unless their reputation has been cleared, after a certain period of time.
Licenses will cost BD5 a year for individuals and BD50 for broking companies. Brokers will be given three months to renew or their licences will be cancelled.
Minister of State for Shura Council and Parliament Affairs Abdulaziz Al Fadhel said that the amendments were necessary to organise and regulate the broking market to ensure that proper licences are being issued and that violations are being dealt with.
"Brokers are complaining that there are a lot of outsiders, who are damaging their business, but without anything being done to stop them," he said.
"This is why strong punishments have been proposed as additions to the law to ensure that unlicensed brokers don’t harm the brokers’ market and to stop the chaos they are currently creating."
Under the amendments, unlicensed brokers will be fined BD500 and the fine will be doubled if the violation is repeated.
Al Menbar MP Shaikh Ibrahim Al Hadi said that tough fines were being imposed to ensure that unlicensed brokers are kept away.
However, Al Asala MP Hamad Al Mohannadi said that part-timers should also be licensed.
"What does a BD200 or BD300 monthly salary do today? It can barely feed someone," he said.
"So what if someone wanted to feed his family and offered his broking services without a license to someone, is this a real criminal act worth a BD500 fine?
"Fines for worse crimes are far less than that and here we come to something that has no harm to anyone and we impose a huge fine."
Amendments
Al Wefaq MP Mohammed Al Mizal said that some of the amendments were unclear and made the law look bad.
"A broker is required to be good and decent, but who determines this," said Mr Al Mizal.
"This will mean that licences would be given according to someone’s opinion and not proper requirements."
MPs later decided to drop this article from the requirements, despite rejections from parliament chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani, who believed that deleting it was wrong.
Existing brokers will have to apply for new licences to be line in with the law once it is ratified, but without them necessarily fulfilling new obligations such as having basic reading and writing skills, having other jobs or an office to operate from.
In case of any violation by any licensed broker or broking company, the licence will be revoked for three months and the punishment will be doubled if it is repeated.
Certain government officials, selected by the Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister, will be also given policing authorities over violations.
