GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

* Qatar National Bank QPSC reported third-quarter profit attributable to equity holders of the bank of 3.72 billion Qatari riyals, compared to 3.60 billion riyals in the year-ago period.

* Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC reported consolidated third-quarter unaudited net profit attributable to owners of the bank of 1.23 billion United Arab Emirates dirhams, up from 1.11 billion dirhams a year ago. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the Dubai-based lender's attributable profit rose year over year to 3.62 billion dirhams from 3.17 billion dirhams.

* Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC raised 1 billion UAE dirhams through a rights issue, and raised its Tier 1 capital through the issue of a $750 million perpetual sukuk, The National reported. Acting CEO and Vice Chairman Khamis Buharoon said the transactions will help the lender pursue growth opportunities.

* National Bank of Kuwait SAKP reported unaudited third-quarter profit attributable to shareholders of the bank of 86.5 million Kuwaiti dinars, up from 73.7 million dinars a year earlier. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the bank's attributable profit increased year over year to 272.4 million dinars from 238.4 million dinars.

* Moody's affirmed the long- and short-term local- and foreign-currency deposit ratings of Saudi British Bank at A1/P-1 and those of Alawwal Bank at A3/P-2, and changed the outlook on Alawwal Bank's long-term deposit ratings to positive from stable, among other ratings actions.

* GFH Financial Group BSC CEO Hisham al-Rayes said in an interview with CNBC TV that the group aims to increase its assets to $15 billion from the current $6.5 billion, Argaam reported. Al-Rayes also said the Bahrain-based firm's investment in the U.S. is around $600 million, noting that the firm is currently focusing on investment in the U.K.

* Bahraini cryptocurrency exchange Rain plans to obtain a full operational license in 2019 as part of efforts to expand its business in Gulf Cooperation Council nations, The National reported.

* Warba Bank KSCP has unveiled its new corporate identity, Al-Qabas reported.

* Khalid Turki has resigned as assistant general manager of corporate and international banking at Khaleeji Commercial Bank BSC, effective Oct. 7.

REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* Standard Chartered PLC is engaging in "constructive, ongoing discussions" with U.S. authorities regarding its past violations of Iran sanctions and is seeking an "acceptable resolution," The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a memo to senior staff, the contents of which a spokeswoman confirmed. U.S. authorities are also looking at whether the bank violated compliance rules related to Iran as recently as 2013, Reuters noted.

* Moody's changed the outlook on the Egyptian banking system to positive from stable as economic growth picks up, supporting credit growth, profitability of banks and internal capital generation.

* The IPO of finance solutions provider Sarwa Capital on the Egypt's stock exchange was covered 30.1 times, Reuters reported, citing unnamed traders.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* Ghana's National Insurance Commission will announce a new minimum capital requirement for insurers before the end of 2018, Citi Business News reported, citing the commission's head of supervision, Seth Eshun.

* The joint receivers of Ghanaian lenders UT Bank Ltd. and Capital Bank Ltd., which went into receivership in August 2017, said they realized 400 million cedis from the sale of the lenders' assets, Joy Business reported.

* Filimbi Ltd., an investment vehicle equally owned by billionaire investors Peter Munga and Jane Njuguna, sold shares in Kenyan insurer Britam Holdings PLC, reducing its stake to 18.9 million shares in August from 58.4 million shares in December 2017, Business Daily Africa reported.

* Kenya's Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd. is setting up a digital platform that will record small businesses' commercial transactions and generate a data-based financial history for each borrower, Business Daily Africa reported, citing Eric Muriuki, general manager in charge of new business and the platform.

* One of Imperial Bank Ltd.'s depositors, Kenya Tea Development Agency, has accused Kenya's central bank of failing to disclose due diligence and the steps it took to protect the interests of the collapsed lender's depositors during Imperial Bank's receivership, as well as not providing information on the lender's financial position, Business Daily Africa reported.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* At least 53 people and companies may have profited from the looting of nearly 2 billion South African rand from VBS Mutual Bank, Bloomberg News reported, citing a report by Terry Motau, who was appointed by the South African central bank to lead an investigation into the lender's collapse. Motau has called for the arrest of those identified in the report and also recommended that the bank be wound up and that damages be sought against the lender's auditor, KPMG South Africa.

* South Africa secured investment pledges of around $35 billion from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China under plans to attract $100 billion over the next five years to revive the South African economy, Reuters reported, citing President Cyril Ramaphosa's economic adviser, Trudi Makhaya.

* The International Finance Corp. has signed a €40 million subordinated loan agreement with Banque Attijari de Tunisie to boost the bank’s equity and increase its lending capacity, Financial Afrik wrote. It is designed to enable the bank to increase its long-term funding to support small and medium-sized enterprises.

* Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said his country's plan to clear $2.2 billion in arrears to international creditors has been endorsed by the World Bank and the IMF, Reuters reported.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: China issues anti-money laundering rules; Merrill Lynch Japan behind TSE glitch

Europe: BoE flags concerns about leveraged loans; HSBC settles US RMBS claims for $765M

Latin America: Brazil court OKs crypto account closures; 2 Dominican banks in M&A deal

North America: Study warns of crypto market implosion; JPMorgan wins French tax probe ruling

Global Insurance: Michael strengthens to Cat 4; September cat losses; Lloyd's Brexit payment vow

Erin Tanchico, Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.

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