Credit Suisse cutsDubai, South Africa jobs: Credit Suisse Group AG cut two equity analyst roles inDubai as well as several other jobs, including stock research positions, inSouth Africa, insiders tellBloomberg News. The Swiss banking group will cover some roles affected by thecuts using existing staff elsewhere, and other equity analysts in some emergingmarkets could also be laid off.
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTHAFRICA
* S&P Global Ratings affirmedSaudi Arabia's long- and short-term foreign- and local-currency sovereigncredit rating at A-/A-2. The agency said the kingdom's ratings are supported byits strong external and fiscal stock positions that are expected to bemaintained despite significant current account and fiscal deficits. Asharq Al-Awsat covers.
* Saudi Arabian Oil Co. CEO Amin Nasser said the oil firm,also known as Saudi Aramco, intends to sell shares in the entire business inits IPO and not just in the refining or distribution operations, Bloomberg Newsreports.Nasser said Aramco plans to list its shares on the Saudi stock exchange and isalso eyeing stock markets in London, New York and Hong Kong.
* NationalBank of Abu Dhabi PJSC raised$621 million through a zero-coupon, 30-year Formosa bond. The issuance wasinitially targeted at a benchmark range of between $250 million and $300million but was upsized following overwhelming support from Taiwanese investors.
* Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Waha Capital appointedAlain Dib COO, CPI Financial reports.Dib previously held senior investment banking positions at , where he worked for 20years. His last position at the French group was head of equity capital marketsfor Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
* Former Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassimal-Thani, whose funds own a stake of just less than 10% in , will not pare downhis investment in the embattled German lender and could even considerincreasing his stake if the bank decides to launch a capital increase, Reuters reports. A source tellsthe newswire that Al-Thani would want to keep his stake in Deutsche Bank below10% to avoid being under stricter public disclosure rules, but Germany's Der Spiegel writesthat the former Qatari prime minister and his cousin, former Qatari Emir SheikhHamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, are considering purchasing a 25% stake in the banktogether with other investors.
* Kuwait delayed the issuance of a sovereign bond of up to$10 billion until 2017 after concluding it is not in a rush to raise funds ininternational markets, bankers tellReuters.
* Creditors of Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar are nearing theformation of a team that will negotiate a deal on the investment company'splanned restructuring of 813 million dinars in debt, Reuters reports.Al Rajhi Bank will lead the creditor committee, which will represent between 70and 80 creditors currently in talks with Investment Dar.
* Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif said Iran andMalaysia will cooperate on Islamic banking, the Malaysia Sun writes.
* Agila Saleh, president of eastern Libya's House ofRepresentatives, said authorities in the eastern part of the country will allowoil revenue to be paid into the central bank in Tripoli in the northwest, eventhough they do not recognize the governor there, Reuters writes.
* The Egyptian government plans to borrow 324.5 billionpounds to finance the country's budget deficit during the second quarter of the2016/2017 fiscal year, Daily News Egyptreports. Thegovernment aims to issue treasury bills worth 300.25 billion pounds andtreasury bonds worth 24.25 billion pounds from October to December.
* ExportDevelopment Bank of Egypt (SAE)'s board approved a capital increaseof 288 million pounds to 1.72 billion pounds, according to Reuters.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* Meanwhile, Barclays Bank of Kenya namedCharles Muchene nonexecutive chairman. Muchene takes over from FrancisOkomo-Okello who has exited the board at the end of his full tenure but willcontinue to serve on BarclaysAfrica Group Ltd.'s board as an independent nonexecutive director.
* NIC Bank Ltd.CEO John Gachora said the lender will cut credit card issuance and may evendemand collateral from customers in some cases, due to a new law that capsKenyan banks' interest rates at 4 percentage points above the Central Bank ofKenya's benchmark rate, according toReuters. NIC Bank earns about 100 million shillings in annual revenue from itscredit card business, which Gachora said has seen quick growth as an expandingKenyan economy gave citizens more disposable income.
* Nigerian pension funds are selling equities and shiftingexposures to local bonds as concerns regarding the currency markets hinderinvestment in the stock market, Reuters writes.Dave Uduanu, a fund manager at Pension Alliance Ltd., said pension fundinvestors have become more risk averse and asset allocation is becoming moreconservative. The Lagos stock index is down 2.2% so far this year in nairaterms and is trading near a 15-year low in U.S. dollar terms, the newswirenotes.
* The Central Bank of Nigeria capped commercial lenders'investment in government-issued Islamic bonds at 10% of the total amount onoffer, and limited the maturities of such bonds to no more than 10 years,Reuters reports.The central bank issued the guidelines in a bid to improve the quality of sukukand to grant liquidity status at its discount window.
* CaurisManagement has now officially ceded its 11.76% stake in to , Jeune Afrique reports.The West African venture capital firm invested 1 billion CFA francs in thebank, delivered in two tranches.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERNAFRICA
* Leadinginvestor Isabel dos Santos accepted a solution proposed by to resolve a dispute overthe Portuguese bank's exposure to Angolan assets and will control 51% ofAngolan lender Banco de FomentoAngola SA in a deal worth €28 million, NovoJornal and Jornalde Negócios report.
* South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago saidthe country has "resilient institutions" that would be able to dealwith a sovereign credit downgrade, CNBC reports.Kganyago said: "South African banks have been subjected to a stress testof a very adverse scenario should a downgrade actually take place and they werefound to be able to weather that storm."
IN OTHER PARTS OF THEWORLD
Asia-Pacific: Goldman buys Postal Savings Bank shares; RBI eases interbank loannorms
S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global MarketIntelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.
SherylObejera, Sarah Raslan, Sophie Davies and Helen Popper contributed to thisreport.
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