GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL
* Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority approved boutique investment banking firm Ithraa Capital LLC's request to amend its business profile and cancel the activities of dealing as principal and underwriter and managing investment funds and discretionary portfolio, while also authorizing the company to conduct arranging and advising activities.
* Taib Bank BSC (c) said it intends to halt the provision of all services regulated by Bahrain's central bank.
* National Bank of Bahrain BSC has completed the certification for Swift Global Payments Innovation, the latest initiative launched by Swift to improve customer experience in cross-border payments. It is the first bank in Bahrain to successfully complete the Swift certification, Gulf Daily News noted.
REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
* Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's trial over charges of money laundering and corruption was adjourned for one week after several witnesses testified regarding the charges, Bloomberg News wrote.
* Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority has granted Islamic insurance companies operating in Egypt six months to adhere to new regulations related to capital, Sharia compliance and Takaful reinsurance, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. Takaful insurers should present an action plan by Sept. 30 and meet the deadline of implementing the new regulations by Feb. 24, 2020.
* The Egyptian Compulsory Insurance Co., a compulsory motor insurance pool established by the Insurance Federation of Egypt, has signed a cooperation agreement with Egyptian electronic payments firm Cashless Plus for electronic collection of mandatory motor insurance premiums, Middle East Insurance Review wrote.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* Nigeria's central bank has set new nonperforming loan limits for microfinance banks, deposit money banks, mortgage refinance firms, finance companies and development finance companies, The Punch reported.
* The Nairobi Securities Exchange PLC is installing a new trading platform aimed at boosting trading volumes and attracting more retail clients, Kenyan Wall Street reported.
* The Nigerian Stock Exchange has approved Access Bank PLC's request to list its recently issued 30 billion naira corporate bonds on the bourse's trading platform, according to Business Post.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
* South African stock exchange JSE Ltd. agreed to acquire Australia-based Link Market Services Ltd.'s entire 74.85% stake in Link Market Services South Africa (Pty) Ltd. for 224.5 million rand.
* Standard Bank Group Ltd. has acquired for $4 million a stake in South African financial technology firm Nomanini SA (Pty) Ltd., which connects informal merchants with distributors through an electronic wallet, Reuters reported.
* South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said South Africans could stop paying taxes over years of corruption and possibly force the country to seek an international bailout, Reuters reported.
* South African state-owned asset manager Public Investment Corp. (SOC) Ltd.
* Meanwhile, two former PIC officials who admitted to receiving bribes of more than 7 million rand each to keep silent about the alleged looting at the defunct VBS Mutual Bank were declared delinquent directors by a South African court, according to a court order seen by Moneyweb.
* Angola managed to reduce by $400 million its debt to China in the first quarter, Macauhub wrote. Angola's bilateral public debt was $7.6 billion in 2012, peaked at $23.2 billion at the end of 2017 and is now on a downward trajectory, with a 1.7% fall over the 15-month period.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Japan megabanks MOUs; Orix bank sale talks; India central bank surplus transfer
Europe: Credit Suisse to bolster Swiss unit; Allianz's Brazil deal; hiring freeze at AIB
Latin America: BancoEstado's Q2 profit soars 84.6%; BTG targeted in Lava Jato probe
North America: Verisk in deal; CFPB blasted over payday rule; Maine Harvest FCU gets charter
Global Insurance: Lufax exit plan; RBS, Santander hit over payment protection; Allianz Brazil buy
Sheryl Obejera, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.
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