* The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif and another senior official for alleged terrorist financing. The department also sanctioned Iraq-based Al-Bilad Islamic Bank and its chairman and CEO, Aras Habib, in relation to the allegations.
* Iranian Ambassador to Germany Ali Majedi said preliminary steps have been taken by Iran to set up a bank for euro-denominated transactions between the Middle Eastern country and the European Union, Sputnik News reported. He added that the bank could be private and based in Germany.
* German insurer Allianz Group
* Meanwhile, Netherlands-based ABN AMRO Group NV said it will wind down its operations in Dubai or transfer them to other locations, citing the limited scale of its activities in the country.
* United Arab Emirates-based ADS Investment Solutions and FTSE Russell intend to jointly launch a new Saudi Arabian equities-focused index to be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in the next few weeks at the earliest.
MIDDLE EAST
* Saudi Arabia-based lenders Alawwal Bank
* National Commercial Bank
* Riyad Bank
* The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority greenlighted the potential merger agreement between Al Ahlia Insurance Co. for Cooperative Insurance
* S&P Dow Jones Indices is consulting investors on whether Saudi Arabia should be upgraded to emerging market status from its current ranking as a stand-alone country, Reuters reported.
* The Qatar Central Bank
* Al Khalij Commercial Bank PQSC said it is engaging with third parties over a potential sale of 100% of fully owned subsidiary Al khaliji France SA.
* Union National Bank PJSC
* Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co. PJSC's attempts to sell Falcon Private Bank AG
* Shuaa Capital PSC signed an initial agreement with Amwal International Investment Co. KSCP to launch a voluntary acquisition offer for the Kuwaiti investment company after securing in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Kuwait. Separately, Shuaa Capital said it appointed Atif al-Othri CEO of Gulf Finance Saudi Arabia, its fully owned Shariah-compliant business financing arm.
* Abraaj Group Ltd.
* Sergey Gorkov, head of Russia-based Vnesheconombank, said the state-owned development lender plans to open a representative office in Abu Dhabi in May that will serve as a platform for interactions between Russian businesses and companies from the Persian Gulf, primarily those from the UAE.
* The Mint Corp. subsidiary Mint Middle East LLC, which recently received preliminary regulatory approval to become a licensed insurance brokerage company in the UAE, has hired a senior insurance professional to establish an insurance brokerage business in the country.
* Bank Dhofar SAOG appointed Jose Joseph deputy general manager and chief risk officer.
* Kuwait-based Noor Financial Investment Co.
* Nationalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr emerged as the winner in Iraq's parliamentary election, defeating militia leader Hadi al-Amiri and incumbent Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Reuters reported.
NORTH AFRICA
* S&P Global Ratings upgraded Egypt's long-term foreign- and local-currency sovereign credit ratings to B from B- with a stable outlook, citing the nation's strengthening economy and improving external position.
* CFG Bank SA
* Wafa Assurance SA, the insurance arm of Moroccan lender Attijariwafa Bank SA, named Ramses Arroub chairman and CEO, replacing the retiring Ali Harraj.
* The Central Bank of Tunisia maintained its key interest rate at 5.75%, according to Reuters.
Henni Abdelghani contributed to this report.
This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.