Oman Issues 4 Royal Decrees Framing the Laws of Its International Financial Centre

By The Edge Research Team

The Takeaway: His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik issued four Royal Decrees on 10 November that set the legal framework of the International Financial Centre of Oman: an Operating Law, a Regulatory Law, a Courts Law, and a decree applying the Complementary Tax Law to the Entities of Multinational Groups inside the centre. Each takes effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette. The centre, created in January and given a board in June, is planned to begin initial operations by the end of 2026.

Oman’s planned international financial centre took its next legal step on Tuesday, five months after its board was named, with three laws that take effect the day after gazettal.

Three laws give the centre its operating, regulatory and court rules

The Sultan issued the decrees on 10 November, the Oman News Agency reported in English and Arabic. Royal Decree 102/2026 promulgates the Operating Law in the International Financial Centre of Oman, and Royal Decree 103/2026 promulgates the Regulatory Law in the centre.

Royal Decree 104/2026 promulgates the Courts Law of the centre. In each case, the decree puts into effect a law attached to it.

All four decrees are to be published in the Official Gazette and enter into force on the day after publication.

The decree texts, dated 30 Jumada al-Ula 1448, cite in their preambles the International Financial Centre of Oman Law issued by Royal Decree 8/2026, which the agency’s English text of January called the centre’s bylaw. The announcement carries the decrees but not the texts of the attached laws.

Royal Decrees behind the International Financial Centre of Oman

Instrument names follow the decree texts of 10 November 2026. The 2024 tax law took effect on 1 January 2025 and the founding decree on its date of issue. The October and November decrees take effect the day after their publication in the Official Gazette, which the announcements do not date.

The tax decree brings multinational groups’ entities in the centre under the 2024 law

Royal Decree 105/2026 applies the Complementary Tax Law to the Entities of Multinational Groups within the International Financial Centre of Oman. That law was issued by Royal Decree 70/2024 on 31 December 2024, when the agency’s English text named it the Supplementary Tax Law on entities affiliated to multinational groups.

It took effect from 1 January 2025. Under the 2024 decree, the Chairman of the Tax Authority issues the law’s executive regulation and the decisions needed to apply it.

Royal Decree 101/2026, issued on 29 October, amended the law and gave it the name used in the November decree, which refers to the constituent entities of multinational groups. It takes effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette, except for nine listed articles of the amended law, which apply from the tax year beginning on 1 January 2025 and later tax years.

In The Edge’s reading, the tax decree tells multinational groups weighing the centre that the law will reach their entities there, settling that question before operations begin.

The centre moves from founding decree to board to laws in under 10 months

Royal Decree 8/2026, issued on 12 January, established the centre with legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy. It reports to the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, whose office was created by another decree issued the same day.

A Royal order announced on 9 June appointed the centre’s board. It is chaired by His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, with Minister of Finance Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi as deputy chairman.

The other members named were Abdulsalam bin Mohammed Al Murshidi, Chairman of the Oman Investment Authority, and Ahmed bin Jaafar Al Musalami, Governor of the Central Bank of Oman. Mahmoud bin Abdullah Al Awaini, Mulham bin Basheer Al Jarf and an independent international expert complete the board.

The board was to oversee the completion of the centre’s legislative, regulatory and operational frameworks, paving the way for initial operations by the end of 2026. It was also to set up a governance system based on integrity, transparency and accountability.

The centre operates under a legal framework based on common law principles, the June announcement said. It comprises three bodies: the Authority of the centre, its Regulatory Authority and its Dispute Resolution Authority.

The June announcement aligned the centre with Oman Vision 2040 and said its establishment would help consolidate Oman’s position as a trusted platform connecting Gulf, South Asian and East African markets.

Separately, an International Monetary Fund staff team ended its Article IV mission talks in Muscat on 8 November. As set out here on 9 November, the staff see Oman’s growth accelerating to 4.5% in 2026, and the mission called the country’s banks well capitalised.

What to watch:

Publication of Royal Decrees 102/2026 to 105/2026 in the Official Gazette, which brings each into force the following day.

The centre’s initial launch of operations, planned for the end of 2026.

The decrees and background are from the Oman News Agency’s English and Arabic texts of 10 November 2026, with its announcements of 31 December 2024, 12 January 2026, 9 June 2026 and 29 October 2026; time spans not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations.

Sources: Oman News Agency, The Edge.

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