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MENA news through Oct. 9

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MENA news through Oct. 9

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

* S&P Global Ratings said banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council are well capitalized and their health is expected to remain stable in 2020, absent any major shocks. The rating agency said in its industry report card that geopolitical events, lower interest rates and potential declines in asset quality as challenges for Gulf lenders.

* Kuwait's central bank conditionally approved the merger between Kuwait Finance House KSCP and Ahli United Bank BSC, also adding that the deal is subject to certain prerequisites.

* Amwal International Investment Co. KSCP's board of directors approved the transfer of all portfolio accounts from Amwal to its subsidiary NCM Investments.

* Qatar National Bank (QPSC)'s third-quarter profit attributable to equity holders of the bank increased 3.2% year on year to 3.84 billion Qatari riyals from 3.72 billion riyals.

* Fitch Ratings downgraded the support ratings of National Commercial Bank, Riyad Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Saudi British Bank, Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. and Samba Financial Group to 2 from 1. The rating agency also downgraded the long-term issuer default ratings of Banque Saudi Fransi and Riyad Bank to BBB+ from A-, with stable outlooks.

* The EU is set to drop the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland from its lists of countries and jurisdictions it regards as tax havens, citing the Gulf country's recent adoption of new rules on offshore structures. UAE will be removed from the blacklist, along with the Pacific archipelago of the Marshall Islands.

* The governor of UAE Central Bank Mubarak AlMunsouri said that stress tests of local bank have been positive and good despite the decline of oil prices, adding that the banking sector in the country faces many challenges, Albayan reported.

* BH Mubasher Financial Services PSC changed its name to BH Mubasher PSC, effective Oct. 6. The UAE-based financial services company also changed its trading symbol to BHMUBASHER from SFWMUBASHER.

* AXA SA named Paul Adamson CEO of Axa Gulf, effective Nov. 1. Adamson is managing director of AXA Cooperative Insurance Co. in Saudi Arabia.

* Saudi Arabia-based Alinma Bank said its chairman of the board, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Hamad al-Zamil, died Oct. 6 and updates on a replacement will be disclosed in due course.

* Aljazira Takaful Taawuni Co. signed a 19.1 million Saudi riyal deal with Bank AlJazira to provide security services for the personal financing portfolios of the lenders clients, the insurer said in a statement to Tadawul.

* The board of SHUAA Capital PSC appointed Jassim al-Seddiqi CEO of the company following its merger with Abu Dhabi Financial Group, which was headed by al-Seddiqi.

* UAE-based BECO Capital raised $100 million for its second fund BECO Fund II, exceeding its $80 million target.

* The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority is assessing local banks' lending exposure to Saudi Aramco ahead of the state-owned oil giant's IPO, Reuters reported. The central bank is said to be checking whether lenders have the capacity to handle investor demand for loans linked to the listing.

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

* Bank of Israel maintained its benchmark interest rate at 0.25% and hinted at a possible cut to spur inflation and support the domestic economy.

* Bank Leumi le-Israel BM received regulatory approval to appoint Hanan Friedman as its CEO, effective Nov. 1.

* Lebanon is hoping to secure a cash injection into its central bank from the UAE as it seeks to shore up its heavily indebted economy, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, UAE Economy Minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said the government believes the investment climate in Lebanon is becoming more "settled," according to a separate Reuters report.

* Moody's placed the Caa1 deposit ratings of Lebanon-based Bank Audi SAL, Byblos Bank SAL and BLOM BANK SAL under review for downgrade, following a similar action on the sovereign.

NORTH AFRICA

* African Export-Import Bank intends to launch an IPO on the London Stock Exchange through the listing of global depositary receipts representing class D ordinary shares.

* Khalid al-Nashar, deputy chairman of Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority, said the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority is weighing a plan to reduce trading fees and commissions to make the local bourse more competitive, Reuters reported.

* S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on Morocco's credit ratings to stable from negative, citing expected improvement in the country's budgetary position.

* Morocco's Banque Centrale Populaire completed the acquisition of French bank Groupe BPCE's 68.5% stake in Cameroon-based Banque Internationale du Cameroun Pour l'Epargne et le Crédit, after receiving all regulatory approvals. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

* Algeria's finance minister Mohamed Loukal said Algeria's banking system was liquid, with liquidity rising to €13 billion at the end of August, up 37.3% from €11.7 billion at the end of December 2018, Financial Afrik reported. The reserve requirement for Algeria’s banks rose to 12% from 8% in February.

Henni Abdelghani and Pádraig Belton contributed to this report.

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.