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Israel eases process for prospective new banks; Nigeria Re said to eye 2018 IPO

* The total assets of the global Islamic banking industry grew 8.6% to $1.662 trillion in the third quarter of 2017 from $1.532 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the Islamic Financial Services Board, which added data from Qatar, Palestine and Lebanon for the first time.

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* Abraaj Group Ltd. has expanded the role of U.S. investment firm Houlihan Lokey to include serving as an adviser on the planned sale of its investment management unit, insiders told Reuters. Abraaj had hired Houlihan Lokey to assist in negotiations with investors in its $1 billion healthcare fund who allege that their money had been misused.

* First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC appointed Paul Hartwell CEO for its U.K. operations, Arabian Business wrote. Hartwell most recently served as CEO of British Arab Commercial Bank PLC.

* Samba Financial Group Chairman Eisa al-Eisa denied reports that the Saudi Arabian bank is planning to merge with a local lender, Argaam wrote.

* SABB Takaful Co. said Chairman Mohammed al-Yahya is stepping down, effective July 31.

* S&P Global Ratings affirmed Bahrain's long- and short-term foreign- and local-currency sovereign credit ratings at B+/B. The outlook is stable.

* Jordan's King Abdullah is today expected to ask Prime Minister Hani Mulki to step down amid public uproar over a new tax bill backed by the IMF, insiders told Reuters. Mulki had refused to scrap the bill that would hike personal and corporate taxes, saying it was up to parliament to decide whether to pass it.

* The Bank of Israel published a new policy aimed at simplifying the process of setting up a new bank as part of a push to boost competition in the local banking sector and reduce borrowing costs, Reuters reported. The new policy enables a party looking to establish a new bank in Israel to receive a license within six months.

* The Central Bank of Iran will ease capital conditions for international banks planning to set up a branch in the country's free trade zones, the Financial Tribune reported.

* Four foreign insurers have set up representative offices in Iran, while another one has applied for a license to do so, the Financial Tribune wrote, citing the head of Central Insurance of Iran, Abdolnasser Hemmati.

* Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been sworn in for a second term as Egypt's president Saturday, news outlets including Reuters and Daily News Egypt reported. Sisi won 97% of the votes in March on a turnout of 41%.

* National Bank of Egypt SAE secured a $750 million loan agreement with a consortium of international banks including HSBC and Standard Chartered, Amwal Al Ghad wrote.

* Fitch Ratings revised the outlook on Arab Tunisian Bank's BB- long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to negative from stable.

* The Lebanese central bank's Higher Banking Commission ordered Finance Bank's newly appointed general manager, Nadim Rahal, to look into suspected illegal activities at the lender and to draft a recovery plan, Businessnews.com.lb wrote. The move comes after authorities in Iraq took legal action against Finance Bank's previous chairman, Hassan Farran, on bribery allegations.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* GCB Bank Ltd. reported full-year 2017 group profit attributable to equity holders of the bank of 234.6 million Ghanaian cedis, down from the year-ago 318.1 million cedis. For the first quarter of 2018, group profit came in at 38.5 million cedis, compared to 66.8 million cedis in the same period in 2017.

* Nigerian Reinsurance Corp. is preparing to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange this year, Reuters reported, citing sources. The government will reportedly sell part of its stake in an IPO that is slated for November.

* Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, warned that some banks are on the brink of collapse due to their huge stock of bad loans, Business Post Nigeria reported.

* The Central Bank of Nigeria instructed deposit money banks to earmark at least 1 billion Nigerian naira of collateral in the form of government securities, in order for them to take part in over-the-counter trade settlements, Business Post Nigeria wrote.

* The Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, which acquires bad loans from banks, expects to return to profit this year after its losses in 2017 narrowed to 16.4 billion naira from 164.9 billion naira a year ago, Bloomberg News reported, citing Amcon Executive Director Aminu Ismail.

* S&P affirmed Nigeria-based First City Monument Bank Ltd.'s B-/B long- and short-term issuer credit ratings. The outlook is stable.

* Idrissa Nassa, founder of Coris Bank International SA, and Simon Tiemtoré, founder and CEO of Lilium Capital, are rivals for a 40% stake in Commercial Bank of Burkina Faso, Jeune Afrique wrote. The bank, which is owned by Burkina Faso and Libya through the Libyan Foreign Bank, announced plans to sell the stake in January.

* Kenya's National Treasury is working on plans for banks to base lending rates on borrowers' risk profiles as part of a response to the cap on loan interest rates, The EastAfrican wrote.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* South Africa's Public Investment Corp. (SOC) Ltd. dismissed speculation that CEO Daniel Matjila was about to leave the state pension fund, BusinessDay wrote. Bloomberg News reported last week that Matjila could face suspension amid an investigation over his role in several questionable investments made by the PIC.

* The government of Mozambique has resolved to nearly triple the minimum capital requirement for insurance companies to 97 million Mozambican meticais from 33 million meticais, Macauhub reported, citing Ana Comoana, spokeswoman for the Council of Ministers and deputy minister of culture.

* Bank of Zambia Governor Denny Kalyalya said the regulator signed a memorandum of understanding with its counterparts in Malawi and Mozambique to try and use the local currency across the borders, according to Lusaka Times.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: 2 Australian insurers scrap merger plans; Westpac may shut funds management unit

Leo Magno, Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Mariana Aldano 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, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.