Financial Services

Legislation is likely to drive development in Oman’s insurance sector in 2014 and beyond. A new insurance law will update the existing legislation, with the biggest impacts expected to come from a new minimum requirement for paid-up capital that could trigger consolidation in the sector and also from a rule mandating that any new licensee must...

With Oman’s capital markets long on interested investors but short on options, the focus now and in the past has been on what can be done to attract initial public offerings (IPOs) in a market where few lack access to capital. Institutional investors want more trading activity on the market, and have long hoped that the handful of family-owned...

With a stable banking sector, the Sultanate of Oman has good access to capital and a high-quality asset base. Banks’ loan portfolios in particular are considered at minimal risk of default in a global context. In addition to the banks, the country has a vibrant group of non-bank lenders and an Islamic banking segment that is just getting started...

Oman’s Islamic finance segment looks well placed for strong expansion in 2014, after the government launched a sharia-compliant stock index in July 2013. Already home to more than 30 listed companies, and expected to witness promising investment in the coming years, the Muscat Securities Market Sharia Index (MSMSI) will allow the sultanate to...

With a steady stream of new entrants in the past decade and growth from a small base, Oman’s insurance market is a competitive one. A new set of entrants is set to arrive in 2014 following the approval of a legal framework for firms offering takaful (Islamic insurance), which will bring sharia-compliant alternatives to conventional...

With the introduction of Islamic financial products, regarded as allowing the sultanate to retain valuable investment dollars, the emergence of new takaful (Islamic insurance) firms raises the question of how new insurance providers can thrive in a small market.