The Many Forces Shaping the Future of the Banking Industry in Oman

Abstract

In the past decade there have been two bank mergers in Oman together with numerous unsuccessful merger attempts. The purpose of the paper is to explain the consistent undertone of merger discussion in Oman, and how additional mergers (barring those between the biggest players) might benefit the overall industry and some of its stakeholders. Through in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, this study explores the motivations for mergers in the banking sector in Oman, and reasons for the recent phenomena of non-completion of others. Results show that there are good arguments for additional consolidation in the Omani banking sector. Such consolidation would allow more local banks to participate in the financing of larger investment projects. Socio-political reasons relating to the necessity to create jobs and maintain domestic employment dictate that there is little scope for cost reduction from mergers. Directors’ personal interests often thwart promising merger propositions from going through. This research contributes to the small literature on the banking sector in Oman. It also adds a more nuanced perspective on the motivation behind bank mergers that do not fit the standard narrative in the finance literature. For instance, while the business case for industry consolidation are strong, social and political impediments can render beneficial industry restructuring infeasible.