copdot
24th January 2005, 11:06 PM
Looks like NBO is having some problems:
Dubai: The Oman-based Shanfari Group of Companies has challenged the contents of an advertisement placed by National Bank of Oman in a newspaper in Dubai on January 18.
In a signed statement sent to Gulf News, Adil Saeed Al Shanfari, vice-chairman of the Shanfari group, said although NBO has made certain claims regarding his group, it has declined to provide documentary evidence to support them.
"The former CEO of NBO agreed to rectify these lapses and provide us with the necessary documentation. The bank has since retracted from that position," the statement noted.
He was responding to the advertisement which had declared that the content of articles appearing in Gulf News on November 24 and January 2 were inaccurate.
The development gains significance now as NBO and Bank Muscat, the largest bank in Oman, are in the final lap towards a merger.
The Gulf News story had referred to the ongoing legal battle between National Bank of Oman and the Shanfari group regarding a controversial loan deal which originated in the 1990s.
The Shanfari group was quoted as saying that an Omani court had asked NBO to produce documents related to the loan.
The group, in the meantime, claimed to have moved a Dubai court in this regard as two UAE banks had lent money to the Shanfaris, for which NBO had provided a guarantee.
Besides questioning the veracity of the Gulf News story, the bank also stated in the advertisement: "The fact of the matter is that NBO has filed court cases against the Shanfari Group for recovery of monies lent to them."
Al Shanfari said in the statement that, at hearings on the case between the group and the bank in Oman on October 30 and November 27, the bank was directed to provide the missing information in connection with the loan.
"Despite this, NBO has so far not complied with this directive," he said.
The group vice-chairman added that the Shanfari group filed suit No 733/2004 on December 26, 2004, in Dubai against NBO, to compel compliance.
However, Murtadha Ahmad Sultan, the vice-chairman of NBO, yesterday rebuffed the Shanfari claim about a directive from the Omani court.
"It is not true that any court in Oman has asked us to produce documentation on the Shanfari loan deal," he said.
He added that the bank does not have official knowledge about any suit being filed against NBO in a Dubai court.
A Shanfari spokesperson disputed this. "The case has already come up for hearing on January 17, and the hearing on the same has been postponed to February 14.
"It is on record that NBO had reported rising profits in the years leading to 2000, only to reverse that trend with rising losses during the period up to 2003. And this has not been the track record of other commercial banks in Oman.
"Although NBO has denied any wrongdoing, the customers of the bank in Oman, the UAE and Egypt hold a different view," the Shanfari spokesman added.
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As usual we have to rely on the <a href="http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/BusinessNF.asp?ArticleID=149115" target="_blank">Emirati newspapers</a> for news about Oman :
Dubai: The Oman-based Shanfari Group of Companies has challenged the contents of an advertisement placed by National Bank of Oman in a newspaper in Dubai on January 18.
In a signed statement sent to Gulf News, Adil Saeed Al Shanfari, vice-chairman of the Shanfari group, said although NBO has made certain claims regarding his group, it has declined to provide documentary evidence to support them.
"The former CEO of NBO agreed to rectify these lapses and provide us with the necessary documentation. The bank has since retracted from that position," the statement noted.
He was responding to the advertisement which had declared that the content of articles appearing in Gulf News on November 24 and January 2 were inaccurate.
The development gains significance now as NBO and Bank Muscat, the largest bank in Oman, are in the final lap towards a merger.
The Gulf News story had referred to the ongoing legal battle between National Bank of Oman and the Shanfari group regarding a controversial loan deal which originated in the 1990s.
The Shanfari group was quoted as saying that an Omani court had asked NBO to produce documents related to the loan.
The group, in the meantime, claimed to have moved a Dubai court in this regard as two UAE banks had lent money to the Shanfaris, for which NBO had provided a guarantee.
Besides questioning the veracity of the Gulf News story, the bank also stated in the advertisement: "The fact of the matter is that NBO has filed court cases against the Shanfari Group for recovery of monies lent to them."
Al Shanfari said in the statement that, at hearings on the case between the group and the bank in Oman on October 30 and November 27, the bank was directed to provide the missing information in connection with the loan.
"Despite this, NBO has so far not complied with this directive," he said.
The group vice-chairman added that the Shanfari group filed suit No 733/2004 on December 26, 2004, in Dubai against NBO, to compel compliance.
However, Murtadha Ahmad Sultan, the vice-chairman of NBO, yesterday rebuffed the Shanfari claim about a directive from the Omani court.
"It is not true that any court in Oman has asked us to produce documentation on the Shanfari loan deal," he said.
He added that the bank does not have official knowledge about any suit being filed against NBO in a Dubai court.
A Shanfari spokesperson disputed this. "The case has already come up for hearing on January 17, and the hearing on the same has been postponed to February 14.
"It is on record that NBO had reported rising profits in the years leading to 2000, only to reverse that trend with rising losses during the period up to 2003. And this has not been the track record of other commercial banks in Oman.
"Although NBO has denied any wrongdoing, the customers of the bank in Oman, the UAE and Egypt hold a different view," the Shanfari spokesman added.
=========
As usual we have to rely on the <a href="http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/BusinessNF.asp?ArticleID=149115" target="_blank">Emirati newspapers</a> for news about Oman :