São Paulo – Last week, Oman inaugurated its first Islamic bank. The Nizwa Bank will offer products and services in accordance with the Sharia, i.e. Muslim law. The launch was made following the Central Bank of Oman implementation of the Islamic Banking Regulatory Framework, which regulates the country’s religious banking system. The information was released by the website of Dubai’s Arabian Business magazine.
"The launch of Bank Nizwa will propel Islamic banking and the economy of Oman to a higher level of development,” said chairman Sayyid Amjad Mohammed Ahmed Al Busaidi, according to the website. Last year, Oman had announced that it was set to establish an Islamic finance system. The country is the last member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (a bloc comprising Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) to have a religious financial regime.
According to the Arabian Business, the Central Bank’s cover areas including banks’ liquidity management, the administration of boards of sharia scholars who oversee Islamic financial institutions, and the operation of conventional banks’ Islamic windows – and in many cases, the rules appear considerably stricter and more detailed than regulations in other countries.
“We take pride in the fact that we are the first full-fledged Sharia compliant bank int eh country,” said Nizwa Bank CEO Jamil El Jaroudi. “Our goal is to create an environment that serves as an inspiration for other Islamic banks and Islamic windows at conventional banks to begin operating in Oman so that the customer benefits from the best practices,” he said.
Nizwa Bank is based in the city of Al Qurum, with offices in Nizwa and Sohar.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
