New Controls on Public Fundraising

TDT | Manama 

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Public fundraising breaches will carry fines of up to BD10,000 under new rules that also give the Social Development Ministry powers to freeze or take control of money raised in breach of the law.

Three ministerial decisions create a Financial Licensing Office, list nine administrative offences and introduce standard forms for fundraising, donations and transfers to and from Bahrain.

Social Development Minister Osama Al Alawi issued Decisions 51, 52 and 53 of 2026, which give effect to 2025 changes to the 2013 law governing fundraising for public purposes.

Legal entities cannot raise money for public causes without a licence, while individuals can do so only for religious purposes.

Eight of the nine offences carry fines from BD100 to BD10,000. Failure to keep or submit financial records carries a maximum penalty of BD3,000.

Breaches include using unapproved fundraising methods, spending money on another purpose, failing to file reports and breaking rules on funds sent overseas or received from abroad.

Administrative costs cannot exceed 10pc of the amount raised.

The Financial Licensing Office will handle applications to raise money, receive donations without a fundraising licence, send funds abroad or receive them from overseas.

It will check applications, seek views from government bodies where required and work with the ministry's Anti-Money Laundering and Inspection Section.

The office can also freeze or take control of fundraising proceeds under the law and direct them towards public-benefit purposes.

Licensed bodies must use a dedicated account at a bank licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and file a financial report within 30 days of the end of the licence period or approval of a donation.

Money sent abroad must go by bank transfer, with proof supplied that it reached the beneficiary and was used for the approved purpose.

Financial records must be kept for at least five years.

The rules also bar fundraising for public purposes inside Islamic places of worship, ban the use of children in fundraising and require prior ministry approval before money is spent on a purpose other than that for which it was raised.