Reward limited to 5% of property value under rules to revive unknown and dormant endowments.
Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Endowments has introduced rewards of up to SR10 million for individuals who report previously unidentified endowments, as part of new regulations aimed at tracing and reviving assets whose status or benefits have been lost or suspended.
Under the rules, the reward will be limited to 5 per cent of the value of the endowment property, with a maximum payout of SR10 million.
The initiative is part of a broader regulatory framework covering unknown and dormant endowments. It sets out procedures for identifying, resolving and reactivating such assets while ensuring that the original intentions and conditions established by donors are respected. The regulations also aim to support the long-term sustainability and development of endowment assets.
The authority can identify unknown or dormant endowments through reports submitted by the public, information received from government or judicial authorities, or requests from other entities seeking its intervention.
Under the regulations, an endowment may be classified as unknown if it has no trustee, if a trustee or person in possession of the asset conceals its existence, or if the trustee is unaware of the asset’s location, their responsibility for managing it, or documents proving its ownership or endowment status.
A dormant endowment, meanwhile, is defined as one whose main revenues have completely stopped for two consecutive years. The classification also applies when the direct benefit of an endowed asset has been entirely suspended for the same period, based on the conditions stipulated by the donor.
Who can qualify for a reward?
To qualify, reports must relate to unknown endowments that have not already been identified by the authority and must be supported by valid evidence. Reports should be submitted through the authority’s designated channels and, in general, must not have been previously filed.
There must also be no pending legal case concerning the trusteeship, establishment or entitlement to the endowment.
Eligible individuals may receive a reward once the case has been resolved and the property has been valued. The amount will be determined by the Committee for Unknown Endowments, which will consider factors including the strength of the evidence provided, the effort required to resolve the case and the benefit generated for the endowment.
Endowment administrators and individuals who have unlawfully encroached on an endowment will not be eligible to receive a reward.
If multiple people report the same endowment, priority for the reward will generally be given to the person who submitted the first report.
However, the committee may also grant rewards to subsequent reporters or other individuals if their information or efforts made a significant contribution to identifying the endowment or resolving the case.
