Muscat

Muscat may refer to:

Oman

Coordinates: 21°N 57°E / 21°N 57°E / 21; 57

Oman (ⁱ/oʊˈmɑːn/ oh-MAAN; Arabic: عمان‎ ʻUmān pronounced [ˈuːmaːn]), officially the Sultanate of Oman (Arabic: سلطنة عُمان‎ Salṭanat ʻUmān), is an Arab country in the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Holding a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the nation is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest, and shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz (which it shares with Iran) and Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.

From the late 17th century, the Omani Sultanate was a powerful empire, vying with Portugal and Britain for influence in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to modern-day Iran and Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar (today part of Tanzania, also former capital). As its power declined in the 20th century, the sultanate came under the influence of the United Kingdom. Historically, Muscat was the principal trading port of the Persian Gulf region. Muscat was also among the most important trading ports of the Indian Ocean. Oman's official religion is Islam.

BankMuscat

bank muscat is the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate of Oman with a strong presence in corporate banking, retail banking, investment banking, treasury, private banking and asset management. The bank, with assets worth over US$15 billion, has the largest network in Oman exceeding 130 branches, 386 ATMs, 131 CDMs and 4500 PoS terminals.

The international operations consist of a branch each in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and a representative office in Dubai, UAE. bank muscat currently owns 49% of BMI Bank B.S.C ©, an independent bank in Bahrain. The Bank also has a 43% stake in the Mangal Keshav Group, one of the oldest and most respected securities houses in the fast-growing Indian equities market, 97% stake in Muscat Capital LLC, a brokerage and investment banking entity in Saudi Arabia, besides a stake in Silkbank Ltd. in Pakistan.

bank muscat holds the rare distinction of being voted the ‘Best Bank in Oman’ for seven years by The Banker, FT London; nine years in a row by Global Finance and Euromoney. bank muscat is the recipient of the prestigious Hewitt recognition as the Middle East’s Best Employer 2009. The Bank was declared an Investor in People (IiP) organisation in January 2007, becoming the first banking organisation in the MENA region to be awarded the prestigious global recognition. In 2004, bank muscat became the first bank in the Middle East to be completely ISO 9000:2000 certified.

Islamic banking and finance

Islamic banking (Arabic: مصرفية إسلامية‎) is banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of sharia (Islamic law) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. As such, a more correct term for Islamic banking is sharia compliant finance.

Sharia prohibits acceptance of specific interest or fees for loans of money (known as riba, or usury), whether the payment is fixed or floating. Investment in businesses that provide goods or services considered contrary to Islamic principles (e.g. pork or alcohol) is also haraam ("sinful and prohibited"). Although these prohibitions have been applied historically in varying degrees in Muslim countries/communities to prevent unIslamic practices, only in the late 20th century were a number of Islamic banks formed to apply these principles to private or semi-private commercial institutions within the Muslim community.

As of 2014, sharia compliant financial institutions represented approximately 1% of total world assets. By 2009, there were over 300 banks and 250 mutual funds around the world complying with Islamic principles and as of 2014 total assets of around $2 trillion were sharia-compliant. According to Ernst & Young, although Islamic Banking still makes up only a fraction of the banking assets of Muslims, it has been growing faster than banking assets as a whole, growing at an annual rate of 17.6% between 2009 and 2013, and is projected to grow by an average of 19.7% a year to 2018.

Private equity

In finance, private equity is an asset class consisting of equity securities and debt in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange.

A private equity investment will generally be made by a private equity firm, a venture capital firm or an angel investor. Each of these categories of investor has its own set of goals, preferences and investment strategies; however, all provide working capital to a target company to nurture expansion, new-product development, or restructuring of the company’s operations, management, or ownership.

Bloomberg Businessweek has called private equity a rebranding of leveraged-buyout firms after the 1980s. Common investment strategies in private equity include: leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments and mezzanine capital. In a typical leveraged-buyout transaction, a private-equity firm buys majority control of an existing or mature firm. This is distinct from a venture-capital or growth-capital investment, in which the investors (typically venture-capital firms or angel investors) invest in young, growing or emerging companies, and rarely obtain majority control.