To: All Banks Operating in the Sultanate of Oman

Subject: Extension of Credit Facilities to Banks’ External Auditors and their Employees

After Compliments,

1. As banks are aware, in recent years, bank supervisory and regulatory authorities in many countries of the world have shown greater awareness of the increasingly complementary role that External Auditors of banks play in ensuring the maintenance of a healthy financial system.

2. In order for the External Auditors of banks to play this role effectively, the Central Bank of Oman believes that the External Auditors’ review of a client bank’s affairs leading to the expression of an opinion on those affairs should be characterized by a high degree of integrity and should not be coloured by considerations of a borrower/lender relationship that may exist between the External Auditors and the client bank.