* The Islamic Financial Services Board appointed Central Bank of Kuwait Governor Mohammad Al-Hashel its chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2018. The IFSB also granted membership to eight organizations, including Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority and the Abu Dhabi Global Market.
MIDDLE EAST
* The central banks of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain raised key interest rates following the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank's decision to increase its benchmark interest rate to a target range of 1.25% to 1.50%, Gulf News reported. The Central Bank of Kuwait, meanwhile, has opted to keep its key interest rate at the current level, citing the need to "consolidate an atmosphere conducive to the recovery of economic growth rates."
* Islamic banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council have weaker stand-alone credit profiles compared to the region's conventional banks, according to Fitch Ratings. The agency added that a high risk appetite and weak asset quality are the main shortfalls of GCC Islamic lenders. Separately, Fitch said that 17% of its rated Islamic banks in the GCC region have a negative outlook, with all the negative outlooks in Qatar and are driven by the ongoing political dispute between the country and some of its neighboring states.
* Saudi Arabia is forming an entity that will evaluate, manage, and potentially sell assets received in settlement deals from the government's anti-corruption investigation, insiders told Bloomberg News. Meanwhile, the arrest of Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in the sweeping crackdown has hurt the shares of his Kingdom Holding Co., which have lost close to one-fifth of their value to $8.5 billion since his detention, the Financial Times noted.
* Amana Cooperative Insurance Co.
* The UAE is working with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority to issue a blockchain-based digital currency that will be accepted in transactions between the two countries, Reuters wrote, citing Central Bank of the UAE Governor Mubarak Rashed al-Mansouri.
* United Arab Bank PJSC
* Abu Dhabi Financial Group
* Mashreqbank PSC named Ahmed Abdelaal group head of corporate and investment banking. The lender also named Arif Usmani group head of risk management, CPI Financial wrote.
* Fitch affirmed and removed from Rating Watch Negative the viability ratings of nine Qatari lenders, including Qatar National Bank (QPSC), Commercial Bank (PSQC), and Doha Bank QSC, reflecting the agency's view that the immediate risks from Qatar's diplomatic dispute to the lenders' overall stand-alone credit profiles have decreased.
* Nine international banks including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Deutsche Bank are underwriting Qatar National Bank's new $3 billion loan, the first significant syndicated loan for a Qatari borrower since the economic boycott imposed on Qatar, Reuters reported. The loan is expected to be syndicated to more banks.
* Fitch downgraded Oman's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to BBB- from BBB with a negative outlook, citing expectations that the country's budget deficit will hit 12.8% of GDP, one of the largest among Fitch-rated sovereigns.
* Muscat Finance (SAOG)
* Bank Sohar SAOG
* Nayef Falah al-Hajraf became Kuwait's new finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle. Al-Hajraf, who leads the Capital Markets Authority, replaced Anas Al-Saleh, who become deputy prime minister and state minister for cabinet affairs.
* Bahrain's central bank is drafting stricter regulations for Islamic banks to assess and report financial risk, according to Khalid Hamad Abdul-Rahman Hamad, executive director of banking supervision. Under the proposed requirements, which will be revealed in the first quarter of 2018, banks will need to hold proper reserves, including profit equalization and investment risk reserves.
* GFH Financial Group BSC
* Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Co. BSC's board proposed to increase the firm's paid-up capital to 14.3 million dinars from 7.2 million dinars through a bonus share issue??, as well as an authorized capital increase to 20 million dinars from 10 million dinars, Reuters reported.
* Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pledged to earmark more than $3 billion from the country's proposed $337 billion 2018 budget to prop up the banking sector, which has been weighed down by bad loans and unauthorized credit lenders, Bloomberg News reported.
NORTH AFRICA
* Moody's said its negative outlook for the African banking sector in 2018 reflects high macroeconomic risks in a majority of the region's countries that expose banks to asset quality pressures, sovereign credit risk and reduced government support. The agency stressed, however, that banks in Morocco and Egypt will fare better with challenging operating conditions in the region.
* The Central Bank of Egypt said banks operating in the country have recorded a net profit of 44.75 billion pounds by September-end, Daily News Egypt wrote. The regulator said the top five banks accounted for 46.67% of the amount.
* The Tunisian Federation of Insurance Companies executive director Kamel Chibani said the insurance body is weighing plans to create an anti-insurance fraud agency, the Middle East Insurance Review wrote, citing Emerging Maghreb.
* The Central Bank of Sudan instructed banks to freeze the assets of dozens of individuals and companies that have been charged with trading currencies without the central bank's authorization, Radio Dabanga reported.
Henni Abdelghani contributed to this report.
