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Pioneers Holding plots 3-way split; StanChart trims UAE jobs; Fitch cuts Namibia

* Business executives see fiscal crises, cyberattacks and unemployment or underemployment as the three biggest risks to doing business at a global level, according to a World Economic Forum survey. In the Middle East and North Africa, energy price volatility was the biggest risk.

* Syndicated lending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the first three quarters reached $594.7 billion, down 25% from the same period a year ago, Reuters wrote, citing LPC data.

* Turbulence faced by reinsurers in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years has created challenges for some and opportunities for others, A.M. Best said, adding that companies are looking to diversify revenue streams and alter their portfolios in favor of new or less volatile segments.

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

* A subsidiary of British banking group Standard Chartered PLC cut more than 100 jobs in its retail business in the United Arab Emirates in September, insiders told Reuters.

* UAE's National General Insurance Co. PJSC said its board will meet Oct. 6 to discuss increasing foreign ownership limits on its shares to 49% from 25%.

* UAE-based Amlak Finance PJSC was awarded 780 million dirhams in an arbitration administered by the Dubai International Arbitration Center since 2013. Amlak said the impact of the ruling on its financial results will not be booked in 2019, and will depend on the speed and execution of the ruling.

* S&P Global Ratings affirmed the A long-term issuer credit and financial strength ratings of Dubai-based insurer AIG MEA Ltd. and revised the outlook to stable from negative.

* Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority launched the public offering of its 50% stake in Boursa Kuwait Securities Co. KPSC, with the offering price set at 100 fils per share.

* Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority granted financial technology experimental permits to Afaq Co., Emkan Alarabiya Co. and Buthoor Solidarity for Financing Co. to create an equity crowdfunding platform.

* Lloyd East resigned as a nonexecutive director of Saudi Arabia-based Al Alamiya for Cooperative Insurance Co.

* Saudi Indian Co. for Cooperative Insurance Wafa Insurance expects its first-quarter results to be delayed until November-end, saying it was unable to publish the results on time, Argaam wrote.

REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* Egyptian financial services group Pioneers Holding Co. said its board approved a plan to split the company into three separate firms focused on financial services, real estate and the industrial sector, with the split to be carried out the group completes mandatory bids to boost its stake in five units to 90%, Reuters reported. CEO Walid Zaki said the group is looking to complete the process by the end of the year.

* Egyptian Exchange Chairman Mohamed Farid said the bourse will set up a joint venture with the country's Supply Ministry this month to manage a planned commodities exchange, Reuters wrote.

* Moody's said the recent decision by the Egyptian central bank to slash interest rates is credit positive for banks, adding that it expects additional cuts over the next year, Amwal Al Ghad reported.

* Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt SAE Vice Chairman El-Sayed Bayoumi said the Egyptian lender plans to buy a further 8% stake in Egyptian Takaful Insurance Co. from Banque Misr SAE and increase its stake in the company to 32.75%, Amwal Al Ghad reported.

* Shareholders of Egypt-based Delta Insurance Co. approved a plan to increase the company's authorized capital to 500 million Egyptian pounds, insiders told Amwal Al Ghad. A planned increase of Delta Insurance's current issued and paid-in capital to 126 million pounds from 120 million pounds was also reportedly approved.

* Moody's placed Lebanon's Caa1 issuer rating under review for downgrade, citing a significant tightening in external financing conditions for the country due to domestic and geopolitical risks, including renewed tensions with Israel.

* Lebanon's central bank will provide commercial lenders with U.S. dollars to support imports of fuel, wheat and medicine, saying lenders must ensure that the funds will be used exclusively for such products, Reuters reported.

* Morocco-based Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur SA said its first-half consolidated net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company increased 4% year over year.

* Algerian Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal said the country will seek loans in 2020 from foreign financial institutions of which it is a member to fund strategic development projects, Reuters wrote. Loukal also said Algeria aims to cut public spending by 9.2%.

* Iranian Deputy Minister of Economy Abbas Memarnejad said local lenders will offload surplus assets worth 600 trillion rials by the end of the fiscal year on March 2020, Financial Tribune wrote.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* Edward Njoroge and Fred Ojiambo retired from the board of Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd., The Kenyan Wall Street wrote.

* Lawyers representing Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Bank of Ghana board member Keli Gadzekpo denied a claim by Capital Bank founder William Ato Essien that Ofori-Atta and Gadzekpo engaged him in 2016 over plans to acquire the lender, Joy Online reported. Capital Bank is currently in liquidation.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* Fitch Ratings downgraded Namibia's long-term issuer default ratings to BB from BB+ and warned that the country is set to record its third consecutive year of recession in 2019.

* The South African Reserve Bank said the country will keep paying a high interest rate for loans it needs to address an increasing budget deficit until its fiscal problems are fixed, Reuters reported. The central bank also said the premium investors pay for South African debt to compensate for the risk of holding it restricts monetary policy by raising the interest rate needed to stabilize inflation, according to Bloomberg News.

* Foreign ownership of South African government bonds fell to 37% of the total at the end of August, the lowest level since February 2017, suggesting that some investors are selling debt ahead of a possible downgrade of the country's sovereign rating to junk, Bloomberg noted.

* The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa dismissed local payments firm Cash Paymaster Services (Pty.) Ltd.'s application for leave to appeal an order directing the Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. unit to repay 317 million rand plus interest from June 2014 to the payment date to the South African Social Security Agency.

* South African investment holding firm Conduit Capital Ltd.'s board approved the company's disposal of part of its stakes in financial services firms Finbond Group Ltd., Trustco Group Holdings Ltd. and real estate developer Calgro M3 Holdings Limited to Riskowitz Value Fund LP for a total purchase consideration of roughly 34.3 million rand. Conduit Capital said cash from the disposal will be used to fund growth at its insurance units.

* Finbond Group will restructure its board and that of unit Finbond Mutual Bank, in line with a directive by the central bank's Prudential Authority related to corporate governance. As part of the overhaul, Carel van Heerden and Rosetta Xaba resigned from the group's board, while Danie Pentz was appointed an independent nonexecutive director. Van Heerden's resignation follows his appointment as CEO of Finbond Mutual Bank.

* Mobile financial services solutions provider Cassava SmarTech Zimbabwe Ltd. said a government ban on the purchase and sale of cash through mobile money services will result in a temporary shutdown of the country's biggest mobile money system and may bring Zimbabwe's commerce to a standstill, Bloomberg reported.

* Angola's central bank is taking the necessary steps for the country to join the Southern African Development Community's electronic payments platform, Jornal de Angola reported, citing according to Edgar Bruno, head of the regulator's payment systems department.

* Fitch affirmed Nova Sociedade de Seguros de Angola SA's insurer financial strength rating at B, with a negative outlook.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: IL&FS presents resolution plans; South Korean banks face regulatory sanctions

Europe: Credit Suisse COO quits over spying; stricter rules for UK funds; Luminor sale

Latin America: Peru's Congress dissolved; Colombia's Credifinanciera gunning to become bank

North America: Mont., Ariz. banks in deal; Goldman Sachs unit, BofA settle bias charges

Global Insurance: Cyberattacks top biz risk list; Lloyd's overhaul; 'Syndicate-in-a-Box'

Deza Mones, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.

The Daily Dose Middle East and Africa has an editorial deadline of 5 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.

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.