Liquidators and Administrative Fees

According to article 46(2) of the Commercial Companies Law, first priority goes to the liquidation process itself before any debts are settled. The company pays the liquidator hired to sell the assets, along with any court fees and the costs of keeping the company’s property safe until it can be sold. If these administrative costs are not covered, the legal process cannot move forward.

Worker Dues

According to article 92 of the Labour Law, wages, rights, and all amounts due to a worker or to beneficiaries on his behalf by virtue of the Labour Law have priority over all other debts owed by the employer. This means that priority shifts to staff and employee salaries, end-of-service gratuity, and any unpaid amounts immediately after the payment of fees associated with the liquidation process itself.

Privileged Creditors

Once workers are paid, priority moves to claims by privileged creditors such as government-owed taxes, secured bank loans, and other claims in accordance with article 185 of the Bankruptcy Law.

General Claims

Article 185 of the Bankruptcy Law further details that once privileged claims are settled, the liquidator addresses all other general third-party claims. This category includes business partners, trade suppliers, and contractors.

The Bottom of the List: Partners and Shareholders

Finally come the business owners. The partners or shareholders of the company are at the very bottom of the list. They only receive a distribution if there is money left over after every other debt, tax, and salary is paid in full in accordance with article 46(3) of the Commercial Companies Law.

Conclusion

This post provides a simplified outline of the order in which creditors are paid when an LLC liquidates. The matter becomes more complicated when there are multiple privileged creditors that have to go through their own prioritisation process.

If you are involved in the process of liquidating a business, we highly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the Commercial Companies Law and the Bankruptcy Law.

Written by:

Nouf Al-Lamki

Nouf is a legal intern at Decree. She has previously interned in the banking sector, the aviation sector, and in private practice. She is interested in corporate. She holds a LLB from the Modern College of Business and Science.

This blog post will highlight five key attributes of this agreement:

1. CEPA is a Free Trade Agreement

A CEPA at its core is a free trade agreement, which is an agreement that focuses on eliminating tariffs on the import of goods and services between countries. A CEPA attempts to be more comprehensive by incorporating additional matters such as collaboration in the area of SMEs and other topics between countries.

2. Oman-India CEPA is the biggest treaty that Oman has ever signed

Based on word count and the number of pages of the agreement, This agreement is the biggest and longest agreement that Oman has ever taken part in.

3. The treatment of goods and services between the two countries under the CEPA is asymmetrical

While most bilateral agreements provide equal treatment between the two countries, CEPA adopts a more delicate approach as the treatment of goods differs between the two countries so that, for example, one good would be exempt from tariffs going into country A, but not exempt from tariffs going into country B. This is intended to ensure that countries domestic businesses are not affected by the provisions of the agreement.

4. Oman-India CEPA allows the presence of some employees of service providers to stay in Oman for periods upto four years

One of the unique aspects of the Oman-India CEPA is the treatment of the employees of service providers which will be allowed in specific cases to allow them to enter Oman and stay for a period of up to two years extensible for an additional period of two years. It is worth noting that this applies to a specific category of employees, such as senior managers and those with special technical skills, and not all the employees of the service provider.

5. Oman-India CEPA has not entered into force

Oman-India CEPA was signed in December 2025 and ratified by Oman in February 2026. For the treaty to enter into force, both Oman and India are required to complete their legal formalties and communicate to each other that the treaty is effective from their side. At the time of writing this post, India has not published any updates on completing its internal procedures to commence the implementation of the treaty. However, it is expected for this to take place in the upcoming months.

Conclusion

Oman-India CEPA is one of the most significant treaties that Oman has ever signed, and it is expected to have significant implications on the relationship between the two countries, but also on how business is conducted in Oman in general.

You can read the text of this treaty in full in English on the link below:

Written by:

Nouf Al-Lamki

Nouf is a legal intern at Decree. She has previously interned in the banking sector, the aviation sector, and in private practice. She is interested in corporate. She holds a LLB from the Modern College of Business and Science.