trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/cafwxwzht4cawnxtsyhnxg2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Capitec shares fall after Viceroy report; Commercial Bank sets focus on Turkey

Podcast

Street Talk Episode 87

Blog

A New Dawn for European Bank M&A Top 5 Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US banks' loan growth; record share buybacks; utility M&A outlook

Blog

Banking Essentials Newsletter 2021: December Edition


Capitec shares fall after Viceroy report; Commercial Bank sets focus on Turkey

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* The UAE's Federal National Council approved a draft bill that enables the central bank to regulate finance leasing contracts, Arabian Business wrote. The law requires all entities offering finance leases to obtain a license to operate from the Central Bank of the UAE. WAM also reported.

* Dubai Islamic Bank (PJSC) issued a $1 billion sukuk with a five-year tenor, the first dollar denominated benchmark sukuk transaction from the Gulf Cooperation Council this year, according to a press release carried by Thomson Reuters' Zawya.

* Emirates NBD Bank PJSC issued an Australian dollar-denominated bond as part of its A$1.5 billion Kangaroo bond program, Reuters noted. Order books prior the launch of the bond were in excess of A$200 million.

* HSBC Holdings Plc is boosting its mortgage business in the UAE by teaming up with real estate brokers Allsopp & Allsopp Mortgage Services, Home Matters and Lion Mortgage to expand the availability of mortgages to customers in the country, Arabian Business reported.

* The Qatar Central Bank said its international reserves and foreign currency liquidity ticked up to $37.6 billion in December last year from $36.9 billion a month earlier, Reuters noted.

* Commercial Bank (PSQC) CEO Joseph Abraham said the lender will allot more capital and focus more on Turkey as it seeks to benefit from the "very close" political ties between the country and Qatar, Reuters reported. The CEO added that loan growth at the bank is expected to be between 7% and 9% this year, down from 14.6% last year.

* Saudi Arabian banks' lending to private sector and public, nonfinancial institutions dipped 1% on a yearly basis to 1.44 trillion riyals in December 2017, Argaam wrote, citing Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority data.

* Saudi insurer Co. for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya) said it has received an expert recommendation to increase its technical reserve to face any potential claims, adding that this may have a negative impact on the company's financial statement.

* Bank Audi SAL reported full-year 2017 consolidated unaudited net profit of $559 million. Excluding profits from discontinued operations, the profit stood at $464 million, representing an increase of 13% from a year earlier.

* National Bank of Kuwait SAKP unit NBK Capital Partners has exited its $157 million private debt platform, The National wrote.

* Al Aman Investment Co. - KPSC appointed Yousef Ibrahim Al-Ghanim CEO.

* Privatization Holding Co. KSC appointed Liela Mahdi Sidi Abbas vice president of direct investment.

* United Finance Co. SAOG's board of directors proposed to reduce the company's paid-up capital to 250 million shares, or 25 million Omani rials, from 349,144,411 shares, or 34.9 million rials. The proposal, which is subject to approval from the Central bank of Oman, the Capital Market Authority and shareholders of the company, will result in the cancellation of approximately 2,840 shares for every 10,000 shares held in the company.

* A.M. Best assigned a financial strength rating of B (Fair) and long-term issuer credit rating of "bb" to Noor Takaful Family PJSC. The outlook on the ratings is stable.

* Think tank Majlis Research Center has warned against the return of shadow banks in Iran, saying the fallout from their operations still continues to reverberate in the country's financial sector, the Financial Tribune wrote.

* Central Bank of Egypt sub-Governor Rami Aboul Naga said the country's foreign reserves are adequate enough to cover imports for eight months, Reuters wrote. Its foreign reserves reached $37.02 billion in December 2017 from $36.72 billion in November 2017.

* Ahmed Kouchouk, Egypt's deputy minister of finance for fiscal policies and institutional reform, said the country plans to issue euro-denominated bonds before the current fiscal year ends and after completing the issuance in dollars. Daily News Egypt reported.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank said it has completed a $332 million equivalent dual tranche — conventional and Islamic — dual currency syndicated term facilities, its first ever Islamic debt borrowing, news agency WAM wrote.

* Fitch Ratings affirmed the B+ long-term issuer default ratings of Nigeria-based Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc, as well as the B- long-term issuer default ratings of FBN Holdings Plc and unit First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. The outlooks are negative.

* Fitch also affirmed United Bank for Africa Plc's B long-term issuer default rating, with a stable outlook, among other ratings.

* Meanwhile, United Bank for Africa raised a $160 million syndicated trade finance facility, Global Trade Review noted.

* The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems launched an e-bills platform that will facilitate faster processing of payments for goods and services, Citi Business News wrote.

* The Central Bank of Kenya's monetary policy committee is set to hold its next rate-setting meeting March 19, Reuters noted.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* South African fund manager Benguela Global Fund Managers (Pty.) Ltd. has challenged Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd.'s "aggressive practice" of rescheduling arrear loans, saying in a letter to the lender that it was concerned that the practice distorted the low- and middle-income market lender's financial performance, Bloomberg News reported. The letter was sent before short-selling firm Viceroy Research published a report accusing Capitec of concealing losses and engaging in "predatory finance." Benguela separately criticized Viceroy's demand that Capitec be placed into state curatorship. Capitec's share price fell 12.59% yesterday, a day after Viceroy published the report.

* The South African Reserve Bank said a collapse of Steinhoff International Holdings NV — the retailer engulfed in an accounting scandal — will not lead to financial instability, Reuters reported. The regulator said it is investigating whether the company broke any exchange control regulations.

* Capital Intelligence Ratings affirmed Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd.'s financial strength rating at BBB.

* Portugal's Banco BPI SA wants to reduce its stake in Banco de Fomento Angola SA from 48.1%, Macauhub reported, citing Banco BPI Executive Board President Pablo Forero. The reduction may reportedly occur in a possible stock exchange operation.

* The proposed merger of the stock exchanges of Libreville in Gabon and Douala in Cameroon should take not take place before the second half of 2019 because there still needs to be new regulation, government and financial markets sources said at a meeting in Douala, Agence Ecofin wrote.

* Access Bank Plc unit Access Bank Zambia Ltd. pumped $20 million into its operation to help support plans to open new branches this year, Zambia Daily Mail reported.

* BGFIBank Gabon SA has created a new trade finance offering aimed at companies of all sizes, Agence Ecofin reported.

* The Zimbabwean government ordered banks not to impose a 5% tax on all transactions below $10 in a bid to promote financial inclusion, The Herald reported.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: South Korea files charges against 5 banks; Chinese bank raises 2.53B yuan in IPO

Europe: Santander Q4'17 profit falls; ING banks on blockchain; Julius Bär in Brazil deal

Latin America: Santander Brasil books higher profit; bids due for Garantía de Valores

North America: Morgan Stanley removing 600 funds; BB&T sells domestic factoring portfolio

North America Insurance: MetLife's credibility dented with reserve charge; Anthem Q4'17 net income grows

Sheryl Obejera, Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.

The Daily Dose Middle East and Africa has an editorial deadline of 4 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription.