(Reuters) – Bank Nizwa, Oman’s first full-fledged Islamic bank, has received an investment banking licence that will allow it to manage funds and issue instruments such as Islamic bonds, the lender said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

The bank launched operations in January and is gradually rolling out a range of sharia-compliant products, aiming to grab a 5 percent share of the country’s overall banking market in five years.

In December, Oman became the last country in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council to adopt Islamic finance, issuing extensive regulations for the sector.

(Reporting by Bernardo Vizcaino; Editing by Andrew Torchia)

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