BankMuscat and Commercial Bank of Oman (Combank) have merged to create the largest bank in the sultante with assets of $3.4 billion, an official source said Monday.
Officials from the two banks signed the merger agreement Sunday, saying the move was justified "by the imperatives of competition in the framework of globalisation," the source said.
The merger to create the new bank, which will go by the name of BankMuscat, was decided by shareholders on September 12 but will not become effective until December, following a statutory three-month legal delay.
In 1998, the nine commercial banks in Oman reaped in pre-tax profits of $222 million, an increase of 11 percent on 1997, the sultanate's central bank said. — (AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
