* European finance ministers will attempt to convince the U.S. government to exempt global financial messaging service Swift from U.S. sanctions set to be reimposed against Iran and maintain the Middle Eastern nation's access to the service, the Financial Times reported.
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL
* Medgulf Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co. CEO Abdulrahman bin Mohamed al-Zuwaidi has resigned.
* Separately, Medgulf said the remaining 5.06 million shares under its rights issue were 372.5% oversubscribed, with investors injecting 217.2 million Saudi Arabian riyals at an average price of 12.77 riyals per share, Argaam reported.
* National Bank of Kuwait SAKP unit Al Watani Wealth Management Co. has launched its operations in Saudi Arabia.
* Abraaj Group Ltd.'s art collection, including works said to be owned by founder Arif Naqvi, are set to be put up for auction in London by Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Dubai-based private equity firm's provisional liquidators, to raise funds for the company, The National reported.
* National Commercial Bank unit NCB Capital Co. is advising Saudi Arabian finance firms Amlak International for Real Estate Finance and Nayifat Finance on potential IPOs, insiders told Reuters.
* Capital Intelligence Ratings affirmed Emirates NBD Bank PJSC's financial strength rating at A-.
* Shaikh Salman Bin Isa al-Khalifa, executive director of banking operations at the Central Bank of Bahrain, told bond investors that the country has no funding requirements for this year and has no plans on issuing new U.S. dollar-denominated bonds, an insider told Reuters.
REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Amir Yaron as the next head of the country's central bank, Bloomberg News reported. Yaron will succeed Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug, whose five-year term is set to end in November.
* CI Ratings affirmed Iran-based Saman Bank PJSC's financial strength rating at B.
* CI Ratings affirmed the credit ratings of Yemen-based Tadhamon International Islamic Bank.
* EFG-Hermes Holding SAE aims to secure mandates to advise on private sector IPOs and mid-market mergers and acquisitions in Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported, citing the company's co-head of investment banking, Mohamed Fahmi. Meanwhile, an EFG spokesperson said the Egypt-based company expects to complete its acquisition of Nigerian broker Primera Africa Securities Ltd. in November.
* Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq said the recently devaluated exchange rate of the Libyan dinar, which saw its value drop in September after the government imposed a 183% fee on hard currency transactions, against the U.S. dollar is not fixed and will change based on market demand, Reuters reported. The dinar was devalued to 3.9 against the dollar, compared to the official rate of roughly 1.4.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele will meet with executives from South African telecommunications firm MTN Group Ltd. and lenders Standard Chartered PLC, Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, Citibank and Diamond Bank PLC to discuss the dispute over the repatriation of $8.1 billion that MTN allegedly transferred abroad, in violation of foreign-exchange rules, insiders told Reuters.
* The Nigerian central bank's recent moves to address problems at Skye Bank PLC do not imply that sovereign support for the country's banking system will always be available, Fitch Ratings said. The agency added that it continues to believe that sovereign support for Nigerian lenders cannot be relied upon, given the sovereign's weakness.
* The Central Bank of Nigeria plans to introduce and license payment service banks in the country, with a minimum capital requirement of 5 billion naira, Nigeria's Business Day reported.
* Ghana's Prudential Bank Ltd. denied recent reports claiming that the lender has collapsed and that its customers must withdraw their funds, describing the reports as untrue and "must be treated with the contempt it deserves," Joy Business reported.
* Naoufel Ghafir has been named CEO of the Morocco, Tunisia and West Africa region at AXA Partners META (Middle East, Turkey, Africa), l'Economiste wrote.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
* The South African rand rallied after President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the resignation of embattled Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and appointed Tito Mboweni, a former governor of the country's central bank, as Nene's replacement.
* South Africa's public protector will look into whether recently resigned Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene violated ethics guidelines over an investment by the state's Public Investment Corp., Business Day reported, citing Member of Parliament David Maynier. The investment reportedly included a "referral fee" of $1.7 million, which may have benefited Nene's son.
* The IMF lowered South Africa's economic growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019 and urged the country to carry out reforms aimed at improving policy certainty and the efficiency of state-owned companies, Reuters reported.
* Mozambique's currency, the metical, has gained strength in face of the euro during the previous week, Jornal de Angola reported. The buying price was 69.25 meticais per euro, and the selling price 70.63 meticais.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Indian lender in asset buy; Vietcombank to sell bank stakes; ANZ case adjourned
Europe: Aviva CEO Wilson stepping down; Wirecard eyes more than €10B revenues by 2025
Latin America: Chinese firm invests in Nubank; IMF cuts growth forecast for Latin America
North America: Goldman cuts Marcus' 2019 lending target; Hedge fund Tourbillion to shut down
Global Insurance: Michael menaces Florida panhandle; Aviva boss steps down; Vivat could be sold
Erin Tanchico, Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.
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