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Kenyan rate cap under debate; Access Bank targets unbanked Nigerians

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Kenyan rate cap under debate; Access Bank targets unbanked Nigerians

* National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group are among the nine banks that Saudi Arabian Oil Co. picked to lead its highly anticipated IPO, insiders told Reuters. The investment banks who reportedly clinched top roles — Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse — stand to earn substantial fees, with the IPO estimated to yield $100 billion in net proceeds.

* U.S. lender Citigroup Inc. expects its profits in the Middle East to reach record levels in 2019, with fee-based income projected to rise despite the low interest rate environment and economic slowdown, Atiq Rehman, the bank's head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa emerging markets cluster, told The National.

* The U.K. reached an agreement to maintain preferential trading relations with Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini post-Brexit, according to Agence Ecofin.

* U.K. asset manager Columbia Threadneedle Investments appointed Edwin Lawrence as its head for the Middle East. Based in Dubai, Lawrence will lead the firm's client relationships in the region.

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

*Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will finalize by year-end the pilot operations of their planned common digital currency for cross-border bank transactions, and will extend it to other countries at a later stage, Al Eqtisadiah reported, citing Hisham al-Hogail, deputy governor for banking operations at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.

* Fahad Alshathri, SAMA's deputy governor for supervision, said the mortgage market in the country is expected to double in size over the next five years as the government moves to increase homeownership among locals, The National reported. Speaking at a conference in Dubai, Alshathri said mortgage loans from commercial banks grew 168%, while housing loan deals by finance companies rose 79%.

* Emirates NBD Bank PJSC's sale of a further 10.5% stake in payments firm Network International Holdings PLC will likely improve its profitability and capitalization, according to Moody's, Gulf News wrote. The deal would also allow the Dubai-based lender to get an additional buffer to offset the costs of acquiring Turkey-based DenizBank AŞ .

* Abu Dhabi-based cryptocurrency platform Hayvn seeks to raise as much as $5 million to bolster its regulatory capital reserves, improve compliance and hire more staff, among other areas. The firm raised over $600,000 in seed capital in 2018, just a month after it was launched.

* The Qatari central bank issued a new law on combating money laundering and terrorist financing, which imposes severe penalties for violators, including financial sanctions and imprisonment for convicted individuals, The Peninsula wrote.

* Bahrain's financial technology sector is set to have over 100 companies by 2019-end, Khalid Saad, CEO of Bahrain FinTech Bay, told Gulf Daily News. At present, the sector has roughly 80 firms but this will likely increase on the back of new regulatory measures. However, the sector's funding environment should be developed to aid firms from the start-up phase and through their growth, Saad added.

* Capital Intelligence Ratings downgraded to B+ from BB the long-term foreign-currency rating of Al Baraka Islamic Bank BSC (c), with a negative outlook. The agency also affirmed the Bahraini lender's short-term foreign-currency rating at B.

* Warba Bank KSCP secured regulatory nod for its private offering prospectus for its planned sukuk issuance not exceeding $500 million.

* The Central Bank of Kuwait has amended governance rules for banks, allowing them to add independent members to their boards and various committees, according to Kuwait News Agency.

REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* London-based Institute of International Finance said despite a recent downgrade from Fitch Ratings, Lebanon is unlikely to default on its loans, owing to substantial central bank reserves and a strong banking sector, The Daily Star wrote.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* Seychelles' MERJ Exchange Ltd. became the first entity to launch an IPO of its tokenized shares, in which it will issue 1,652,893 new shares at $2.42 apiece to raise some $4 million of expansion capital. The IPO would value the bourse at $25 million.

* Kenyan lawmakers discussed amendments to a controversial banking law that limits the rate that lenders can charge customers for loans after the country's High Court gave a deadline to change the law to make it constitutional, Reuters reported. In 2016, the government capped the rate to four basis points above the central bank's benchmark.

* Kenya's Equity Group Holdings PLC could spend at least $170 million in its bid to acquire Banque Commerciale Du Congo SA based on the price multiple of its previous acquisition in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Business Daily Africa noted.

* Kenya's Capital Markets Authority and the Nairobi Securities Exchange Plc plan to form a recovery board unit to supervise the performance of ailing firms and protect investors as the bourse records what appears to be its worst performance in nearly a decade with more companies announcing profit warnings, Standard Digital reported.

* Ghana is working with global financial institutions to form a national development bank, Ghana Web reported, citing Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen. The government also plans to convert National Investment Bank Ltd. into an industrial bank, Kyerematen added.

* Access Bank PLC aims to boost its client base by at least 65 million by 2022 by targeting unbanked individuals, Chinedu Onuoha, business development head, told This Day in an interview. In March, the Nigerian lender completed its merger with peer Diamond Bank PLC, creating a combined entity with over 5 billion naira in assets.

* Kuda, a Nigerian digital-only bank, has raised $1.6 million in a pre-seed funding round to be allocated for the live launch of the app in the fourth quarter, Tech Crunch reported. Haresh Aswani will join the board of Kuda, which recently clinched a banking license from the central bank.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* The Zambian central bank is against the government's proposed constitutional changes that would scrap lawmaker's oversight over public debt, Reuters reported. A parliamentary committee is accepting opinions on the proposals before presenting it to the National Assembly for discussion.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: HK bourse proposes to UK exchange; KKR to list Australia fund

Europe: Nordea COO resigns; Commerzbank offices raided; mortgage blow for banks in Spain

Latin America: Santander Brasil, 2 other banks face fraud lawsuits; Brazil ups growth forecast

North America: Paul Volcker warns on Volcker 2.0; Charles Schwab cuts jobs; fintech raises $15M

Global Insurance: Dorian, Faxai insured losses; Rothesay Life capital raise; Charles Taylor sale

Deza Mones, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton 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. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.