Bank Muscat is a financial services provider in the

Sultanate of Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

providing

corporate banking Wholesale banking is the provision of services by banks to larger customers or organizations such as mortgage brokers, large corporate clients, mid-sized companies, real estate developers and investors, international trade finance businesses, i ...

retail banking Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking (corporate ...

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

private banking Private banking is a general description for banking, investment and other financial services provided by banks and financial institutions primarily serving high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) – those with very high income or substantial asset ...

and

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as complex process or manufacturing plants, infrastr ...

. The bank, with assets worth

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

31.9 billion in 2018, has the largest network in Oman exceeding 150 branches. As of 2022, the bank has more than 2 million customers, 174 branches, and more than 800 points of interaction, including automated teller machines (ATM), deposit machines (CDM), and full-function machines (FFM).

Operations

The international operations consist of a branch each in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and representative offices in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. The Bank has whole ownership of Muscat Capital, a brokerage and investment banking entity in Saudi Arabia, and a 11.8% stake in Silkbank in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Recognition

Bank Muscat was voted the ‘Best Bank in Oman’ for seven years by

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...

, FT London nine years in a row by Global Finance and

Euromoney ''Euromoney'' is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance. First published in 1969, it is the flagship production of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc. History and profile ''Euromoney'' was first published in 19 ...

. Bank Muscat is the recipient of the Hewitt recognition as the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

’s Best Employer 2009. The Bank was declared an

Investor in People An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...

(IiP) organisation in January 2007, becoming the first banking organisation in the

MENA region The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

to be awarded the global recognition. In 2004, Bank Muscat became the first bank in the Middle East to be completely ISO 9000:2000 certified. In 2022, the bank was ranked among the top 30 banks in the region by Forbes Middle East.

International issues

In 2013, the bank was hit by a $39 million fraud scheme using prepaid travel cards accessed from outside of Oman. This led to an impairment charge impacting 10.5% of Bank Muscat's earnings for the period. In 2016, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

secretly issued a license to Bank Muscat to convert $5.7 billion in Iranian overseas reserves from

Omani rial The Omani rial (, ISO 4217 code OMR) is the currency of Oman. It is divided into 1000 ''paisa, baisa'' (also written ''baiza'', ). Fixed exchange rate From 1973 to 1986, the rial was pegged to the United States dollar, U.S. dollar at 1 Omani rial ...

s into

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

via

United States dollars The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

, something not normally permitted due to

United States sanctions against Iran Following the Iranian Revolution, the United States has since 1979 applied various economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran. United States economic sanctions are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1982 establishments in Oman Banks established in 1982 Banks of Oman Companies based in Muscat, Oman Companies in the MSM 30