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FirstRand posts results; Sanlam targets Egypt; Ghana sees room for policy easing

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FirstRand posts results; Sanlam targets Egypt; Ghana sees room for policy easing

* A free-trade zone linking 27 countries in the African continent is expected to begin operations by 2020, according to Francis Mangeni, director of trade and customs with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Agence Ecofin wrote, citing Xinhua News Agency. The African Continental Free Trade Area, which would include Egypt and Libya, would link three existing zones in a tripartite agreement, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community and the Southern Africa Development Community.

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

* The euro-denominated bonds of Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments PJS plunged by a record level after audit firm Ernst & Young LLP raised concerns about the company's financial state in 2018, Bloomberg News reported. The company, which is owned by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co., said it is "considering the resources and options available to it to continue its normal operating activities and meet its financial obligations as they arise."

* Emirates NBD Bank PJSC and WP/GA Dubai IV BV sold 100 million ordinary shares in Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based payments processing firm Network International Holdings PLC through a placing to institutional investors for 580 pence per ordinary share, raising gross proceeds of £580 million. The two firms initially announced that they were selling roughly 85 million ordinary shares in Network International. Emirates NBD Bank confirmed that it sold 52.6 million ordinary shares in Network International for gross proceeds of £304.9 million.

* Capital Investment LLC's stake in Reem Investments has reached 5%, the latter said in a bourse statement.

* Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. is set to invest in the Vision Fund 2 of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. in the fourth quarter, insiders told Reuters.

* Moody's affirmed Al Ain Ahlia Insurance Co. PSC's A3 insurance financial strength rating and changed the outlook to stable from negative, following the recovery of the company's regulatory solvency ratio.

* Banks operating in the United Arab Emirates remain highly liquid, well-capitalized, sound and stable, the UAE Banks Federation said in its 2018 annual report.

* S&P Global Ratings affirmed United Arab Emirates-based Emirates Insurance Co. PJSC's issuer credit and insurer financial strength ratings at A-, with a stable outlook.

* A.M. Best upgraded United Arab Emirates-based International General Insurance Holdings Ltd.'s long-term issuer credit rating to "bbb" from "bbb-" and revised the outlook on the rating to stable from positive.

* Fitch Ratings affirmed the A- insurer financial strength rating of Co. for Saudi Arabia-based Co. for Cooperative Insurance, with a negative outlook.

* Saudi Arabia-based Salama Cooperative Insurance Co. said it received a request from a major shareholder, who owns over 5% of the company's capital, to hold a general assembly meeting to vote on dismissing board members Hussein Bayari, Loay Basrawi, Ahmed al-Shetaifi and Ahmed Mourad.

* Oman's United Finance Co. SAOG appointed D. Stanley to be acting CEO.

* Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority said it granted Kuwait Finance House KSCP a license to practice securities activities.

* Bahrain's Ithmaar Bank BSC (closed) said it plans to carry out a major systems upgrade that will improve customers' banking experience, Gulf Daily News reported.

REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* Ibrahim Elbadawi, a former economist at the World Bank, has been appointed as Sudan's new finance minister, Bloomberg wrote.

* Capital Intelligence Ratings affirmed Jordan Commercial Bank 's long- and short-term foreign-currency ratings at B+/B, its bank stand-alone rating at "b+", its core financial strength rating at "bb-" and its extraordinary support level at Moderate, with stable outlooks on the long-term foreign-currency and bank stand-alone ratings.

* Egyptian Exchange Executive Chairman Mohamed Farid Saleh said the bourse is looking to attract two more stock listings and introduce short-selling before the end of 2019, Reuters wrote.

* The assets of France-based Tunisian Foreign Bank were seized by an international tribunal over a dispute relating to the 1989 expropriation of Banque Franco-Tunisienne SA, according to Il Boursa.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* The global move toward lower interest rates will give Bank of Ghana additional space to loosen policy as long as inflation continues to slow, Governor Ernest Addison told Bloomberg TV. Meanwhile, Addison said speculations that up to 4,000 jobs could be lost among second-tier banks following the central bank's cleanup of the finance industry were exaggerated, noting that the net employment loss from the exercise would be around 3,000 across the sector.

* The Bank of Ghana has ordered banks and specialized deposit-taking institutions to require full personal details of individuals making deposits or withdrawals from accounts not belonging to them, Joy Online wrote.

* Lawyers representing Papa Kwesi Nduom, chairman of Ghanaian conglomerate Groupe Nduom, have filed an application at a Ghanaian court to stop the Bank of Ghana from continuing the liquidation process of GN Savings and Loans, Joy Online reported.

* Nigeria's central bank set out requirements for the establishment of special purpose vehicles by development finance institutions, following requests from the companies for special regulatory approvals.

* Noteholders of Consolidated Bank of Kenya Ltd.'s 1.52 billion Kenyan shilling notes medium-term bonds agreed to extend the maturity of the notes by three months to Oct. 22 from July 22. The extension is aimed at allowing the Kenyan National Treasury, its majority shareholder, to finalize a capital injection for the lender.

* Tejinder Singh and David Idoru resigned as executive directors of Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd., Kenya Wall Street reported.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* South African financial services group FirstRand Ltd. reported normalized earnings attributable to ordinary equity holders of 27.89 billion rand under IFRS 9 for the fiscal year ended June 30, up 6% from 26.41 billion rand under IAS 39 in the same period in 2018. The group declared a final dividend of 152.0 cents per ordinary share for the period, up from 145.0 cents per ordinary share a year ago.

* Standard Bank Group Ltd.'s CEO for Africa, Sola David-Borha, said the group plans to take advantage of the free-trade pact previously agreed by African nations for future revenue growth, Bloomberg reported.

* South African insurer Sanlam Ltd. said it expects new business growth in emerging markets outside South Africa to remain strong, supported by the base effect of its acquisition of Moroccan unit Saham Finances SA, as it reported a year-over-year drop in first-half profit to 4.12 billion rand from 5.55 billion rand. Sanlam CEO Ian Kirk told Reuters that the company could invest in Egypt within one year and is looking at several companies for potential acquisitions.

* Discovery Ltd. said its new Discovery Bank unit now has 22,000 customers with more than 50,000 accounts, according to Business Report.

* NMT Capital (Pty) Ltd. Chair Sango Ntsaluba has accused South African insurer Old Mutual Ltd. of hampering the separation process between the two companies, Business Day reported. Old Mutual previously said it was in talks with NMT Capital to divest from the firm, which its former CEO Peter Moyo co-founded.

* Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd. shareholders Regiments Capital and Coral were blocked by the South African lender from selling their shares in the bank to settle a legal claim, Business Day reported.

* Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told Reuters that the government aims to begin discussions in early 2020 on clearing arrears on the country's international debt.

* Zimbabwe-based GetBucks Microfinance Bank Ltd. named CFO Paul Soko as its new deputy managing director, effective June 5. Soko will deputize the managing director and handle the portfolio of COO. Patrick Mashinga replaced Soko as CFO, effective Aug. 19. Meanwhile, Milanda Manjengwah and Gert Thomas Fourie resigned from the company's board, with Fourie to be reassigned to another country within the MyBucks group.

* Angola's Banco Comercial do Huambo SA, which has six branches in its home country, has opened its first representative office overseas in the Portuguese city of Porto after receiving central bank approval in July, Jornal de Negócios reported.

* Moody's assigned Banque Commerciale Du Congo SA long- and short-term deposit ratings of Caa2/Not Prime, with a stable outlook on the long-term rating, among other rating assignments.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: Axa mulls sale of Malaysian JVs; China opens interbank FX market to 3 brokerages

Europe: Danske reshuffles management; Nordea names CEO; CYBG sees extra £450M PPI charge

Latin America: Chile cuts 2019 growth forecast; Mastercard stops servicing 2 Venezuelan banks

North America: First Busey considering another deal; BofA recognizes $2.1B impairment charge

Global Insurance: Prudential Financial buying insurtech; Scor review; Dorian threatens Carolinas

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.