GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL
* Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
* SHUAA Capital PSC said the Abu Dhabi Capital Management has transferred all of the shares issued as part of a capital increase, which totaled 1,470,720,000 shares, to its current shareholders with the continuation of the lock-in period of not less than 12 months.
* Oman-based United Finance Co. SAOG appointed Bikram Rishi COO, effective Oct. 1.
* Awad Mohammed Faraj Bamkhalef stepped down as CEO of Oman & Emirates Investment Holding Co. SAOG. The company's board has nominated Raffy Kozadjian as acting CEO.
* Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority imposed disciplinary actions on Nayef Mussad Albazie from RSM Albazie & Co., the external auditor of Kuwait Clearance Co., for not submitting the company's 2018 report related to its adherence of a law.
* S&P Global Ratings affirmed the insurer financial strength and issuer credit ratings of Bahrain-based Hannover ReTakaful BSC (c) at A+, with a stable outlook.
REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
* The Israel Bitcoin Association has filed a freedom of information petition in a local court, demanding that the central bank disclose copies of policy documents from each of lender in the country concerning money from digital currency, insiders told Globes.
* Egypt issued €610 million in one-year euro-denominated treasury bills with a 1.49% average yield, Reuters reported, citing central bank data.
* Mohamed Farid, chairman of the Egyptian Exchange, said a private company is expected to launch an IPO on the exchange before 2019-end but did not elaborate on the matter, Reuters wrote.
* Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne raised 7 million Tunisian dinars in the market via a non-public bond issued between April 11 and July 31, Financial Afrik wrote. The deadline for subscriptions was extended from an original deadline of June 11 by the bank because it wanted to raise the bond amount to 15 million dinars from 5 million dinars.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* Zenith Bank PLC's
* Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele met with fund managers in London last week in a bid to secure more investments into the naira currency, saying that the stability of the naira would continue, unnamed sources told Reuters.
* Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Ltd.
* The Bank of Ghana revoked the licenses of 23 insolvent savings and loans companies and finance house companies, including GN Savings and Loans Ltd. and First Ghana Savings and Loans Co. Ltd, saying the firms have no reasonable prospects of recovery and that their continued existence poses severe risks to the stability of the country's financial system. Eric Nipah was also appointed as receiver for the specified institutions.
* Papa Kwesi Nduom, chairman and CEO of Groupe Nduom — which has a majority stake in GN Savings and Loans Ltd. — said the company has not received any official communication from the Ghanaian central bank over the revocation of its license due to insolvency, Ghana Business News wrote. The group claimed that GN Savings and Loans is not only solvent but would be highly liquid if the government pays the money it owes the firms. Meanwhile, Elliot Amoako, the regulator's deputy director of banking supervision, denied that the state owed the company money, Joy Online noted.
* GN Liberia Ltd. said it is unaffected by the revocation of the license of its Ghana-based parent GN Savings and Loans, The News reported.
* Eric Nipah, the receiver appointed by the Bank of Ghana for the 347 microfinance companies it shuttered in May, said it will soon pay around 90 million cedis to customers of the collapses firms, according to Citi Business News. So far, over 152,000 depositors have submitted claims, equivalent to about 1.4 billion cedis.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
* South African insurer Sanlam Ltd.
* The Mozambican unit of South Africa's First National Bank has closed three branches as part of a five-year strategy that aims to boost the bank's presence in parts of the country where it does not currently operate, O País reported, citing Paulo Pereira, deputy managing director of FNB Mozambique. The three shuttered branches are in Zimpeto, Xipamanine and Inhambane.
* Nine more defendants in Mozambique's "hidden debt" scandal, including Renato Matusse, a political advisor to former President Armando Guebuza, were remanded in custody on Aug. 10 to await trial on charges including corruption and money laundering, O País reported. A judge is currently deciding who to send for trial on the charges, which are linked to some $2 billion in state-guaranteed loans to three public companies.
* Fitch Ratings lowered Lesotho's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to B from B+ and revised the outlook on the ratings to stable from negative. The agency also downgraded the Southern African nation's country ceiling to B+ from BB-, while affirming its short-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings at B.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: China local debt sales; DHFL resolution plan; Westpac customer refunds
Europe: Leaked Brexit crisis plan; ECB clears Carige rescue; NatWest data breach
Latin America: Treasury minister's resignation, sovereign rating cuts hit Argentina
North America: SEC fines 2 brokers over ADRs; Texas banks in deal; ND bank files for IPO
Global Insurance: Centerbridge eyes insurtech company; healthcare reinsurance; Luxembourg tornado
Erin Tanchico, Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
