MUSCAT: In line with its customer-centric vision, Bank Muscat, the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate, recently hosted a workshop on Interbank Offered Rates (IBOR) for its corporate banking clients to help them adjust to the ongoing transition from London Interbank Offered Rate based (LIBOR) products used by the global financial community for many decades previously. The event was inaugurated by Ilham Murtadha Al Hamaid, General Manager - Corporate Banking, Bank Muscat, and attended by representatives from the leading corporates of the country.
Speaking at the event, Ilham Murtadha al Hamaid, warmly welcomed customers and thanked them for their continuing support and confidence in the bank. She said: “The importance of this workshop can be gauged from the fact that approximately $ 74 trillion of LIBOR-based products are expected to mature globally beyond end-June 2023, the cessation date for LIBOR. With nearly 90 percent of them being derivatives, there is no doubt that the transition process needs to be managed such that there is minimal disturbance to on-going market activities. Hence, in line with our customer-centric vision and to continuously support and handhold our customers through different phases of their growth, Bank Muscat is delighted to host this workshop featuring some of the most renowned IBOR-transition experts We hope that all our customers will leave today’s session with a good understanding on how to manage the transition process in the future.”
Borrowing and lending in Foreign Currency and handling the associated transactions is an essential part of banking relationships in today’s global economy. Bank Muscat as the leading bank in Oman plays an important role in servicing the Foreign Exchange requirements of the country’s corporate segment. Bank Muscat is also focused on offering a number of niche services to sustain its competitive edge and is the only bank in the country to offer a full suite of treasury products and services on a 24x7 basis through its Treasury & Capital Markets division. The bank has been consistently winning the Best Foreign Exchange Provider in Oman award over the years and as well as awards by major international banks for outstanding performance in error-free remittance and fund transfers. The prestigious publication “Metal Bulletin”, has consistently ranked the bank among the top 5 global institutions for commodity price forecast. A multi-award winning organization, Bank Muscat, through its Global Financial Institutions division, has established more than 500 correspondent banking relationships across the world. Its performance across different facets of banking and finance have been consistently lauded by the international financial and banking community for several years.
The treasury products and services include meeting foreign exchange requirements of customers and offering hedging solutions for foreign currency, interest rate benchmarks and commodity price risks. The division offers streaming foreign exchange prices to its counterparty banks and customers and is among the few regional banks to offer a comprehensive commodity hedging product suite to its customers via precious metals, base metals, agricultural and energy products. The bank’s Treasury & Capital Markets division continues to manage the bank’s surplus liquidity through active participation in money markets instruments in line with bank’s overall ALM policy and regulatory guidelines. The service encompasses East Asian as well as early New York time zones spanning all international and GCC working days. The bank believes that its continued focus on synergy efforts and offering quality service to customers will create a sustainable competitive edge for its client-focused businesses in the years ahead.
As one of the enduring successes of the Sultanate’s Renaissance, Bank Muscat has been playing a key role in transforming the Omani banking sector with a number of innovative products and services over the past four decades. The bank regularly organises workshops and seminars to facilitate unique learning opportunities to address challenges faced by corporates and for them to make use of new emerging opportunities on their path to success.
Going ahead, Bank Muscat will continue to support corporates and government entities to make the best use of technology and processes to transform and supercharge their business environment.
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