RIYADH — The General Authority for Endowments has set a reward ceiling for reporting unknown endowments at no more than five percent of the value of the endowment property, with a maximum of SR10 million. The provision is part of the regulations for reviving unknown and dormant endowments, which aim to establish a regulatory framework for identifying, addressing, and reviving such endowments in a manner that fulfills the intentions and conditions of the donors while contributing to their sustainability and development in the Kingdom. The regulations allow the authority to identify unknown and dormant endowments through public reports, by contacting government and judicial entities to obtain endowment data, or by receiving requests for intervention from various entities. The regulations define an unknown endowment as an endowment or bequest whose beneficiary has been suspended and that meets specific criteria. Key criteria include the absence of a trustee; the trustee or person in possession of the endowment concealing it; or the trustee being unaware of the location of the endowment, their trusteeship over it, or the documents proving its endowment status or ownership. A dormant endowment is defined as one with a trustee whose principal revenues have ceased entirely for two consecutive years, or one in which the direct benefit derived from an endowed asset has been completely suspended, in accordance with the conditions stipulated by the endower, for the same period. An interested party may request an investigation into an unknown endowment or the application of the endowment deed to it if its location is unknown. They may also request the authority’s assistance in reviving and developing a dormant endowment. The regulations stipulate that a report concerning an unknown endowment must be unknown to the authority, supported by valid documentation in accordance with the rules of evidence, submitted through the authority’s website or any other means it specifies, and must not have been reported previously, unless a subsequent report contributes to resolving the issue. In addition, there must be no pending lawsuit concerning the trusteeship, establishment, or entitlement to the endowment. A person reporting an unknown endowment is entitled to a reward determined by the Committee for Unknown Endowments, provided the reporter meets the requirements stipulated in the regulations and is not the endowment’s administrator or a person encroaching upon it. The committee determines the amount of the reward after completing the procedures for addressing and evaluating the endowment, taking into consideration the validity and sufficiency of the submitted documents, the productive effort made in addressing the issue, and the benefit to the endowment. If multiple individuals report the same endowment, priority is given to the first reporter, unless a subsequent report proves productive in addressing the issue. The committee may also include more than one reporter, or any person who contributed to addressing the endowment, in the reward. Economic expert Ahmed Al-Shehri explained that the regulations stipulate that no reports concerning dormant endowments will be accepted during the first year, allowing administrators an opportunity to address the status of the endowments under their supervision. After this period, the authority will address the dormant endowments itself or through a delegation.He explained that the regulations apply to endowments or bequests involving unknown or dormant assets, whether real estate, movable property, or otherwise, in addition to certain reports submitted to the authority before the regulations came into effect, in accordance with the cases specified therein.