MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
* Emirates NBD Bank PJSC said it is seeking shareholder approval to raise its foreign ownership limit to 20% from the current 5% and to increase its capital by 7.35 billion United Arab Emirates dirhams, or roughly $2 billion, as it prepares a bid for PAO Sberbank of Russia's Turkish unit, DenizBank AS, Bloomberg News reported. The plans, which prompted a 12.5% increase in the bank's shares in early trading yesterday, are meant to prevent its common equity Tier 1 ratio below the 11% minimum with the potential acquisition, Reuters noted.
* Union National Bank PJSC
* Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC's brokerage unit, ADIB Securities, has launched a new service that provides Gulf Cooperation Council investors access to trade on the Saudi Stock Exchange, Arabian Business wrote.
* Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt (SAE) CEO and Managing Director Mohamed Aly said the lender plans to boost its presence in the Egyptian market by expanding its operations in various fields, including retail, corporate and small and medium-sized enterprises, while diversifying banking solutions and Shariah-compliant products, Daily News Egypt reported.
* The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market yesterday published a discussion paper setting out its proposed regulatory framework for operators of financing platforms for nonpublic companies, MENA Herald reported. The regulator is seeking a calibrated, risk-appropriate regulatory framework for such entities.
* The Dubai International Financial Centre has signed a memorandum of understanding with Middle East Venture Partners, a Middle East-focused venture capital firm that invests in the early and growth stages of innovative companies, to facilitate exchange of information on the latest trends in the finance industry, with a focus on fintech, WAM reported.
* UAE General Insurance Authority is working on reviewing takaful insurance regulations, which are set to be released later this year. The first regulation to be reviewed will include reinsurance regulations, while the second one will cover the guarantee fund, and the third one will be related to financial solvency of takaful firms, Al Roeya reported. Takaful insurance accounted for 10% of the total insurance coverage in the UAE in 2017, compared to 9.4% in 2016.
* The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that Israel's economy is at risk of overheating should the central bank decide to delay raising interest rates, Reuters wrote.
* Iran's Bank Pasargad Plc is targeting opening three branches in India in the future after obtaining regulatory approvals to do so, the Financial Tribune wrote, citing Mostafa Beheshti-Rouy, a board member at the bank.
* Banque Saudi Fransi said it is contesting 1.71 billion Saudi Arabian riyals in additional zakat payments for the years 2005 to 2013, saying it has not earmarked any provisions for the extra claims, Argaam noted. The bank also said it expects a net decrease in shareholders' equity of between 2% and 3% following the implementation of the new IFRS 9 accounting standards, Argaam noted.
* Bahrain-based Investcorp Bank BSC
* Boubyan Bank KSCP
* National Bank of Kuwait SAKP's general assembly approved the bank's capital increase to 750 million Kuwait dinars from 600 million dinars through the issuance of bonus shares. The assembly also approved the distribution of 30% cash dividend equal to 30 fils per share.
* KFH Takaful Insurance Co. Director General Barak Al-khamis told Al-Seyassah newspaper that the absence of an independent regulatory authority protecting the insurance sector in Kuwait is not healthy for the sector, adding that the sector needs more legislations and regulations to facilitate doing business in the country.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* Tanzanian President John Magufuli has instructed the country's central bank to not rescue any struggling banks, saying its "better to have a few viable banks than dozens of failing banks," Reuters reported. The order comes after the Bank of Tanzania in January revoked the licenses of five community banks that were deemed "critically undercapitalized" in a bid to protect the country's financial stability.
* Raila Odinga, leader of Kenya's main opposition party Nasa, has agreed to abandon a campaign aimed at ousting President Uhuru Kenyatta, putting an end to a seven-month standoff over the results of the country's Aug. 8, 2017, elections, Bloomberg News reported.
* Britam Holdings Plc, which announced last week plans to cut some 100 jobs via an early retirement scheme, said former employees of Real Insurance are free to apply for the program despite a regulatory order that protected their jobs, Business Daily Africa reported. Britam took over Real Insurance in 2016.
* Sierra Leone's March 7 presidential election looks set for a second round as the country's two main political parties remain neck-and-neck with 75% of the votes counted, Bloomberg News reported. The main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party took a slight lead with 848,438 votes, while the ruling All People's Congress obtained 833,519 votes, according to the National Electoral Commission.
* The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation will open a probe into a number of commercial banks over suspicions of fraud, Premium Times wrote. NDIC spokesperson Mohammed Ibrahim said the unnamed banks have failed to submit adequate reports on instances of fraud involving members of their staff.
* The number of fraud cases resulting from misconduct by Nigerian banks' staff rose 38.5% to 320 in 2017 from 231 a year earlier, World Stage wrote, citing the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corp.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
* South African small lender VBS Mutual Bank
* South Africa's "Big 4" banks — Standard Bank Group Ltd., Nedbank Group Ltd., Barclays Africa Group Ltd. and FirstRand Ltd.
* A South African judge ordered state prosecutors to release some of the funds they seized as part of a corruption case linked to the controversial Gupta family, and lowered the amount of money that the state can freeze to 40.4 million South African rand, Bloomberg News reported.
* Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim will step down, following allegations that she misused a credit card provided by an international non-governmental organization, Reuters reported. Gurib-Fakim has denied any wrongdoing and said she had refunded all the money. Bloomberg News also covered.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: UBS banned from HK IPO; Nippon Life to buy DWS stake; Sompo closes Canopius sale
Sheryl Obejera, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton, and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.
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