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Mizrahi-Union Bank merger blocked; NCB has new CEO; Allianz buys Africa Re stake

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

* The Israel Antitrust Authority rejected the planned merger of Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd. and Union Bank of Israel Ltd., saying the deal will likely hurt the already limited competition in the country's banking sector, Reuters reported. The regulator added that the deal comes at a time when a number of reforms aimed at boosting banking competition are under consideration.

* Hedva Ber, the Bank of Israel's supervisor of banks, said the country's lenders have reduced their activities abroad amid tax evasion investigations by U.S. authorities of some Israeli lenders, the Times of Israel reported. Ber noted that banks have seen deposit outflows by foreign residents of roughly 70 billion shekels in the last decade.

* National Commercial Bank appointed Faisal Omar al-Sakkaf CEO, effective June 1. He had served as the lender's head of strategy and business development group before he took over as acting CEO on May 16, after Saeed Mohammed al-Ghamdi stepped down from the role.

* Moody's assigned an A3 insurance financial strength rating to Saudi Arabia-based Chubb Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co. The outlook on the company, which is 30%-owned by Chubb Ltd., is stable.

* Fitch Ratings downgraded the insurer financial strength rating of Co. for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya) to A- from A. The outlook is stable.

* Shareholders of Walaa Cooperative Insurance Co. approved a plan to boost the company's capital to 440 million Saudi Arabian riyals from 400 million riyals by offering 1 bonus share for every 10 outstanding shares. Following the decision on the capital hike, the Saudi Stock Exchange yesterday suspended trading in the company's shares for one day, Argaam noted.

* Al-Buruj Co-Operative Insurance Co.'s board of directors proposed to withhold cash dividends for the fiscal year 2017, in a bid to boost the firm's financial position.

* Saudi British Bank said independent director Mohammed Abdullah al-Yahya has resigned.

* Capital Intelligence Ratings affirmed Alawwal Bank's financial strength rating at A-.

* Deutsche Bank AG plans to sell its 8.8% stake in embattled Dubai-based firm Abraaj Group Ltd., insiders told Reuters. The German lender's restructuring drive and Abraaj's ongoing dispute with its investors have added more urgency to the plan to sell the stake.

* Bisher Barazi and Matthew McGuire, CFO and COO of Abraaj Group's private equity unit, have resigned in recent days, insiders told The Wall Street Journal.

* The IMF said the direct economic and financial impact of Qatar's diplomatic dispute with neighboring Arab countries has been manageable, and that its growth performance has remained resilient.

* S&P Global Ratings lowered Qatar-based Al Khaleej Takaful Insurance Co. QPSC's long-term issuer credit and insurer financial strength ratings to BBB from BBB+. The outlook is negative.

EAST AND WEST AFRICA

* Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said the regulator is working closely with the Department of Criminal Investigations in its investigation into banks' potential involvement with a multibillion-shilling theft at National Youth Service, Standard Digital wrote.

* Meanwhile, Richard Ndubai, the director general of Kenya's National Youth Service who is among those arrested as part of an investigation into the alleged 9 billion shilling corruption scandal at the government agency, has denied the charges against him, Mwakilishi wrote.

* Raymond Amanfu, former head of banking supervision at the Bank of Ghana, denied reports that he was asked to report to the Economic and Organized Crime Office as part of investigations into the collapse of UT Bank Ghana Ltd. and Capital Bank Ltd., Citi Business News wrote.

* The Central Bank of Nigeria has started its monitoring of deposit money banks, in a bid to ensure their compliance to forex market regulations, according to The Guardian.

* Ivory Coast's new Competition Commission has come into being, with the ability to impose fines between 100,000 CFA francs and 50 million CFA francs for uncompetitive practices, Jeune Afrique said.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* Germany-based Allianz Group agreed to acquire an 8% stake in Nigeria-based African Reinsurance Corp. for a total cash consideration payable at closing of $81 million. The transaction makes the German insurer one of the largest shareholders in Africa Re.

* South Africa's ruling ANC party said it will engage with investors and stakeholders over the proposed nationalization of the South African Reserve Bank before moving ahead with the plan, BusinessDay wrote. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently stressed his commitment to maintaining the central bank's independence, saying it was sacrosanct and should not be changed.

* Daniel Matjila, CEO of South Africa's Public Investment Corp., could face suspension amid an investigation over his role in several questionable investments made by Africa's biggest money manager, insiders told Bloomberg News. The investigation is seeking to determine whether Matjila followed proper protocols when the PIC spent 4.3 billion South African rand to back last year's IPO of IT firm Ayo Technology Solutions Ltd. The PIC also invested in failed lender VBS Mutual Bank and real estate investor Resilient REIT Ltd., which is under investigation over allegations of insider trading.

* Fitch Ratings affirmed the national insurer financial strength ratings of Sanlam Life Insurance Ltd., Sanlam Developing Markets Ltd. and Santam Ltd. at AAA(zaf). The agency also affirmed the national long-term rating of Sanlam Life's parent and the ultimate holding company of the Sanlam group, Sanlam Ltd., at AA+(zaf). The outlooks are stable.

* African Phoenix Investments Ltd. appointed Shafiek Rawoot financial director of the company, effective July 1.

* Bank of Central African States Governor Abbas Mahamat Tolli has set rebuilding the central bank's reserves and ending an era of easy monetary policy as his goals at the institution, Jeune Afrique reported.

* Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa set the date for presidential and parliamentary elections on July 30, news outlets including Reuters and CNN wrote. This will be the country's first national elections since the ouster of President Robert Mugabe in November last year.

* Angolan President João Lourenço has ordered that an audit be carried out on the accounts of the country's $5 billion sovereign wealth fund, according to Angop and Novo Jornal.

* Angola's state-owned oil company Sonangol, the second-largest shareholder in Portugal's Millennium BCP, is not planning to increase its 19.49% stake in the bank, according to Sonangol Chairman Carlos Saturnino, Público and Jornal de Negócios reported.

* Mozambique's government has hiked the minimum capital requirement for insurance companies operating in the country to 97 million meticais from 33 million meticais previously, saying the measure would give the sector greater financial solidity and protect customers, Jornal Noticias reported. Insurance companies already operating in Mozambique will have three years to adapt to the new capital requirements.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong OKs virtual banks; Indonesia hikes rate; ICICI Bank to probe CEO

Europe: Italy crisis knocks bank shares; Deutsche Börse to buy FX trading platform

Latin America: Credicorp Chile $100M investment program; Brazil banks react to truckers strike

North America: Independent Bank buying MNB Bancorp; National Bank of Canada's fiscal Q2 EPS up

North America Insurance: Egan-Jones sides with AmTrust; WellCare in $2.5B deal; Berkshire top 3 reinsurer

Sheryl Obejera, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton, and Helen Popper 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, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.