MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
* The Central Bank of Bahrain granted Mashreqbank PSC a license to open a wholesale bank branch in Bahrain, allowing the United Arab Emirates-based lender to expand its activities as a wholesale bank in Bahrain.
* AL Ahlia Insurance Co. BSC increased its issued and paid-up share capital through the issuance of 50 million new ordinary shares. Proceeds will be used to finance the acquisition of Solidarity General Takaful BSC's assets and businesses.
* Meanwhile, AL Ahlia Insurance said that it has received regulatory nod from the Central Bank of Bahrain to complete the transaction with Solidarity General Takaful. The company will change its legal name to Solidarity Bahrain BSC, subject to necessary approvals.
* The Saudi Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, signed a post-trade technology transformation agreement with Nasdaq. The transformation of Tadawul's post-trade technology infrastructure is expected to complete in the second half of 2020. The Financial Times covered.
* Banque Saudi Fransi appointed Abdulaziz al-Bani chief compliance officer and Abdulmohsen al-Rayes as chief audit executive as part of a restructuring of all departments at the Saudi Arabia-based lender, an insider told Reuters.
* Shmuel Hauser, head of the Israel Securities Authority, urged Israel to become an international financial center for so-called initial coin offerings, in light of the upsurge of public interest in digital assets such as bitcoins, Bloomberg News wrote.
* Bank Leumi le-Israel BM signed a cooperation agreement with Bank of China to extend credit to Israeli companies operating in China. Under the deal, Israeli companies operating in the Asian country will be able to receive credit in Chinese yuan through either a credit line to be established jointly between the two banks or credit directly granted by Bank of China and guaranteed by the Israeli lender.
* Al-Mal Investment Co. KSCC CEO Abdulwahab Al-Mutawa resigned from his position. His last day in office will be Feb. 28, 2018.
* Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange CEO Rashed Al-Baloushi told CNBC Arabia TV that the exchange targets the listing of 10 companies in the secondary market in 2018, Argaam reported.
* Turkey is reviewing bank accounts held by Iranian citizens with high transactions and deposits after the trial of Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who is accused of conducting money-laundering schemes designed to assist Iran in avoiding U.S. sanctions, and Türkiye Halk Bankasi AS Director-General Mehmet Hakan Atilla in the U.S., Radio Farda wrote, citing the deputy head of Urmia Chamber of Commerce.
* Meanwhile, Habib Bank Ltd. has reportedly asked the Embassy of Iran in Islamabad to close their accounts in the Pakistani lender due to the U.S. sanctions on Iran, insiders told the Business Recorder.
* Morocco has selected the FINACTU group — founded in 1999 and comprising companies in Geneva, Paris, and Casablanca — to support the country in setting up parametric insurance against the consequences of drought at national level, Financial Afrik said.
* The Central Bank of Egypt paid back $2 billion of a $3.2 billion loan to the African Export-Import Bank, with the remaining $1.2 billion planned to be paid by December-end, Reuters reported, citing the Middle East News Agency.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* The Central Bank of Nigeria yesterday weakened the country's local currency marginally, selling dollars at 307 Nigerian naira each for the first time on the official interbank market, Reuters reported. Traders say the move could signal a gradual convergence of Nigeria's multiple exchange rates.
* Access Bank Plc CEO Herbert Wigwe said the Nigerian lender intends to grow its trade payment and settlement service in West Africa over the next five years as foreign lenders have reduced their correspondent banking services in the region due to various reasons, including increased regulation, according to Reuters.
* Guaranty Trust Bank Ghana Ltd. has completed the full integration of Ria Money Transfer's direct to bank account service, allowing senders to quickly and directly transfer funds to beneficiaries of GTBank accounts, B&FT Online reported.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
* Nedbank Ltd. said it would not hire McKinsey for any future projects until the bank has completed and assessed its external reviews of the global management consultancy firm's work in South Africa, according to the Financial Times. McKinsey is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving the controversial Gupta family.
* Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Ltd.'s board declared an interim dividend of 18 South African cents per ordinary share for the six months ended Sept. 30, up from the restated 17 cents in the same year-ago period. The company reported unaudited profit attributable to owners of the company of 282 million South African rand for the period, compared to the restated 349 million rand a year earlier.
* Bryte Insurance Co. Ltd., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.'s South Africa-based unit, announced its acquisition of specie insurer Holmes Underwriting Agency, an independent coverholder at Lloyd's of London.
* Mukuli Chikuba, the permanent secretary in Zambia's ministry of finance, said his country will start refinancing eurobonds worth $2.8 billion "by 2019 or so" to ease debt, Reuters reported.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Australia shelves superannuation changes; My Credit Union gets nod for merger
Europe: UK zeroes in on bitcoin; Spanish firms scale back in US; Bulgaria ratings raised
Latin America: Honduran election uncertainty; Bci plans capital hike for TotalBank deal
North America: Eagle Bancorp slams short-seller's claims; Senate passes tax reform bill
North America Insurance: CVS-Aetna deal could face scrutiny, spur more mergers; ACA mandate dealt a blow
Sheryl Obejera, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.
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