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Emirates NBD hikes foreign ownership cap; Old Mutual plans share buybacks

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Emirates NBD hikes foreign ownership cap; Old Mutual plans share buybacks

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

* Shares in Emirates NBD Bank PJSC rose sharply yesterday after the Dubai-based lender said it increased its foreign ownership limit to 20% from 5%, having received regulatory approval. The bank also plans to further raise the threshold to up to 40%.

* Bank of Sharjah PJSC mandated Bank ABC, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank and JPMorgan to arrange meetings with investors for a planned issue of five-year U.S. dollar-denominated bonds likely to be $500 million or more, Reuters reported, citing a document issued by one of the banks. Bank of Sharjah also invited holders of its outstanding $500 million bonds due 2020 to tender their notes for purchase by the bank for cash.

* Al Hilal Bank PJSC named Abdul Shakeel Aidaroos CEO, replacing incoming CEO Al Waha Capital PJSC Amr al-Menhali, WAM reported.

* The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates ordered local banks and financial firms to develop policies and procedures that promote gender equality in customer transactions, Khaleej Times wrote.

* National Bonds Corp. PJSC CEO Mohammed Qasim al-Ali said the Dubai-based firm plans to start its operations in Saudi Arabia next year and is working on obtaining necessary approvals, Alroeya wrote.

* Saudi Indian Co. for Cooperative Insurance Wafa Insurance was granted an additional 150 days to submit its revised financial restructuring plan to the relevant court.

* Saudi Arabia has named Yasir al-Rumayyan, the head of sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, as the new chairman of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., replacing Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, Bloomberg News reported. The move, which will separate the ministry of energy from Aramco, is aimed at avoiding conflicts of interest as the oil giant prepares for its upcoming IPO, an insider told the news agency.

* Moody's assigned Gulf International Bank - Saudi Arabia long- and short-term deposit ratings of Baa1/P-2, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating. The lender, previously a branch of Bahrain's Gulf International Bank BSC, was also assigned a baseline credit assessment of "ba3" and an adjusted baseline credit assessment of "ba2".

* Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority, which owns 50% of Boursa Kuwait Securities Co. KPSC, said it plans to launch an IPO of its shares in the bourse in the fourth quarter, TradeArabia reported.

* Oman's Bank Muscat SAOG plans to expand premier banking services in more locations across the country, Abdulnasir al-Raisi, deputy general manager for premier banking at the lender, told Muscat Daily.

* Qatar-based Commercial Bank PSQC recently closed a three-year $250 million syndicated loan aimed at meeting its general funding and working capital needs.

REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* The Lebanese government declared an "economic state of emergency" as the country continues to grapple with elevated levels of public debt and budget deficit.

* Lebanon's Jammal Trust Bank SAL, which was recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for allegedly facilitating banking activities for militant group Hezbollah, may eventually be forced to either allow the central bank to take over its operations or sell its clean assets to another lender, several bankers told The Daily Star.

* Egypt has as of Sept. 1 canceled the monthly customs exchange rate, which will now be set daily, Reuters reported, citing the country's finance ministry. The move may raise inflation in the coming months if the Egyptian pound declines significantly against the U.S. dollar, analysts told the news agency.

* Egypt's public enterprise minister, Hisham Tawfik, said the second phase of the state privatization program has been postponed from the initial date of September to January 2020 as some processes took longer than anticipated, Mubasher wrote. Ten state-run companies, including e-Finance and Banque du Caire SAE, will be listed on the Egyptian Exchange for the first time under the program.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* Equity Group Holdings PLC named John Wilson COO, the Kenyan bank said in a Facebook post. Wilson replaces Bhartesh Shah, who will move to a new role as the lender's director for digitization, virtualization, analytics and artificial intelligence, according to Business Daily Africa.

* Ecobank Kenya Ltd. has brought down its nonperforming loans to 3 billion shillings in the first half from 8.1 billion shillings in the same period a year ago through recovery and restructuring, Business Daily Africa wrote.

* Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd. CEO Charles Mudiwa said the lender has laid off 88 employees under its voluntary early retirement scheme aimed at cutting payroll costs, Business Daily Africa reported.

* M-pesa, the mobile money service of Kenyan telecommunications firm Safaricom PLC, plans to expand into Ethiopia and Nigeria, Kenyan Wall Street reported, citing Safaricom's interim CEO, Michael Joseph.

* Polaris Bank Ltd. won a case against the Abia state government over a 1.53 billion Nigerian naira tax assessment disagreement, Business Post reported.

* The Nigerian Stock Exchange approved the listing of 30 billion naira of corporate bonds issued by Union Bank of Nigeria PLC on the bourse, Business Post reported.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* South African insurer Old Mutual Ltd. announced a share repurchase program of up to 2.4 billion rand, saying it believes its share price is trading at a discount to its intrinsic value and that it believes the buyback will deliver longer term incremental value to shareholders. The announcement came as the firm reported a 10% year-over-year rise in first half adjusted headline earnings to 5.21 billion rand.

* South African financial institution Industrial Development Corp. has set out a claim of more than 150 million rand against former Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo over a failed investment, Business Day reported.

* Angola's central bank is working to raise the country's bank penetration rate to 50% by 2022 from about 29% currently, O País reported, citing the head of the regulator's financial inclusion department, Teresa Pascoal.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: UK approves PSC Insurance deal; IFC names Singapore head

Europe: Danske's overcharging case; Julius Bär to keep Kairos; HSBC targets UK mortgages

Latin America: Currency controls return to Argentina; Dominican Republic cuts benchmark rate

Deza Mones, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton 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.