Wednesday 26 / November / 2025
Muscat: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has issued a directive to all public joint-stock companies and investment funds mandating them to reduce the period for transferring dividends due to shareholders and unit holders from 15 days to no more than 7 working days from the date of the general meeting, the board meeting, or the record date.
This measure aims to expedite the dividend distribution process in the capital market. reflecting the efficiency and responsiveness of the regulatory framework in the Sultanate of Oman.
The directive emphasised that disclosures related to resolutions of the general meeting or the board of directors approving cash dividend distributions, as well as the record date set by the board for interim dividends, must include the date on which the transfer of dividends to eligible bank accounts of investors will commence, which in all cases may not exceed the (7th) working day from the date of the general meeting, the board meeting, or the record date.
To ensure the reduction of the time required to transfer dividends to beneficiaries, the directive instructed all public joint-stock companies and investment funds to transfer the approved cash dividends to Muscat Clearing and Depository (MCD) within no more than four working days from the date of the general meeting, board meeting, or record date.
The directive also mandated that Muscat Clearing and depository must transfer the dividends to the bank accounts of eligible investors within no more than 3 working days from the date of receiving the dividend amounts from the securities issuers.
It is worth noting that this directive follows a study conducted by the FSA in response to increasing demands from investors and international entities, as part of a comprehensive review of previous procedures that were deemed unsuitable given current market requirements and did not meet investor expectations, particularly in light of the significant advancements in payment technologies
