GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL
* S&P Global Ratings placed Saudi Arabia in group 4 under its banking industry country risk assessment, with economic and industry risk trends at stable. The agency also expects banks to maintain high levels of core deposits in their funding base and that their strong liquidity metrics will remain intact.
* Riyadh's commercial court has ordered the former managing director and CEO of the Medgulf Cooperative Insurance & Reinsurance Co. to pay the firm some 152.7 million Saudi Arabian riyals over a lawsuit the company filed, alleging the unnamed former executive unlawfully obtained money, Argaam reported. Medgulf said the case does not currently have an impact on its financials.
* Al Rayan Bank PLC, the U.K.-based unit of Qatar's Masraf Al Rayan QPSC, is under investigation by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority over its anti-money laundering controls in relation to its alleged connections with Islamist-linked organizations, The Times of London reported. Restrictions have been imposed against the bank's operations pending the results of the probe.
* S&P Global Ratings affirmed the long-term local-currency issuer credit and financial strength ratings of Qatar-based SEIB Insurance & Reinsurance Co. LLC
* KAMCO Investment Company KSCP received regulatory nod to restructure its capital in order to complete its merger with subsidiary Global Investment House KSC (Closed). The firm will slash its capital to 23.7 million Kuwaiti dinars from 26.3 million dinars using treasury shares of 25,853,425 shares, and then increasing its capital to 34.2 million dinars through the issuance of 104,884,308 shares, with a swap value of 1 share of Global for every 0.755522821 share of KAMCO.
* Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority approved a request submitted by Al-Masar Leasing and Investment Co. KSC (Closed) to exercise the activity of securities for a renewable period of three years.
* The CMA also granted a private marketing license of a collective investment scheme incorporated outside the state of Kuwait to the Securities House Co. to market the units of USIDP Real estate Fund.
* Kuwait named Ibrahim Assaf Alanzi as assistant undersecretary of the ministry of finance, Al-Qabas reported.
* National Bank of Bahrain BSC said it is still in talks with Bahrain Islamic Bank BSC in relation to potentially making a voluntary takeover offer for the latter's issued shares. NBB added that it is continuing to conduct due diligence over the potential deal.
* United Finance Co. SAOG announced the retirement of CEO Mansour Mubarak Abdullah al-Amri, with his last day with the Oman-based company being Nov. 26.
REST OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
* U.S.-Israeli financial technology firm Pagaya Investments plans to issue a credit asset-backed security of $115 million, Reuters reported. The transaction would be the firm's largest to-date, bringing its total AUM to over $750 million.
* Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has sent a bill to parliament that would cheapen the Iranian rial by slashing four zeroes off its value as the country grapples with rising inflation amid tough sanctions by the U.S., Amwal Al Ghad reported. The Iranian rial has reportedly lost around 60% of its value since the country withdrew from a nuclear deal and hit its lowest against the U.S. dollar in 35 years in April.
* The Central Bank of Egypt lowered its key rates by 150 basis points as inflation weakened to its lowest since 2015. The regulator cut the overnight deposit rate to 14.25%, the overnight lending rate to 15.25%, the rate of the main operation to 14.75% and the discount rate to 14.75%.
* Sudan has sworn in economist Abdalla Hamdok as its new prime minister to lead a transitional government that came about following mass protests that led to the ousting of Omar al-Bashir as president, news outlets including Reuters and BBC News covered. Hamdok vowed to seek peace with rebel groups in the country and rebuild its ailing economy, the Financial Times noted.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* South Africa-based Standard Bank Group Ltd. will start seeing growth from its investments into West Africa after 2020 when its business in the Côte d'Ivoire finds its footing and its Senegal business becomes operational, Joel Toure, CEO of the group's Côte d'Ivoire unit, told Bloomberg News. Toure added that the approval to set up a Senegal branch through the group's license in Côte d'Ivoire will not come before 2020-end.
* Nigerian banks FBN Holdings PLC, United Bank for Africa PLC and Zenith Bank PLC will each need to expand their loan books by the equivalent of about $1 billion in order to avoid heavy penalties the country's regulators plan to impose, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence calculations. FBN would need to extend an additional 436.16 billion naira in loans to meet the target, while United Bank for Africa would need to lend 428.87 billion naira and Zenith Bank 350.55 billion naira.
* The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding the key points pertaining to the implementation of the deposit insurance system in both countries.
* Tope Smart, the chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association, requested the Nigerian Stock Exchange to assist companies in meeting new capital requirements imposed by the National Insurance Commission, The Punch reported.
* Mobile lender Tala raised 11 billion Kenyan shillings to underpin the launch of new products and its global growth, Business Daily Africa wrote. Among the companies that took part in the funding round are RPS Ventures, GGV Capital, PayPal Ventures, IVP, and Revolution Growth.
* Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission said it is in talks with stakeholders to boost liquidity in the securities sector, including fund and asset managers, Citi Business News reported.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
* Old Mutual Ltd. again fired former CEO Peter Moyo and assured shareholders that it will continue to fight his bid to be reinstated. In an open letter to shareholders, the South African insurer said it will continue to explore and consider all "reasonable alternative options" to end disputes with Moyo but said he cannot be in charge of the company. The insurer sacked Moyo in June in connection with a conflict of interest. However, the High Court granted him temporary reinstatement, a decision that Old Mutual will appeal.
* Defense lawyers for a key defendant in Mozambique's $2 billion "hidden debt" scandal, Jean Boustani, who worked as a salesman for the Privinvest shipbuilding company, were due to address a Brooklyn federal court on Aug. 22, O País reported. Former Credit Suisse Group AG bankers Andrew Pearse and Detelina Subeva, who also face U.S. charges in the case, implicated Jean Boustani in paying bribes. The Swiss lender arranged some of the loans involved in the case. Boustani, who has denied charges against him, was set to make a new request to be released on bail.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: AIA value of new business rises YOY; CBA revises life insurance deal
Europe: No-deal Brexit base case; BNP Paribas, HSBC, StanChart 'victims' of Huawei
Latin America: Paraguay cuts key rate; Fitch revises outlooks on Ecuador, Suriname
North America: Release of GSE privatization proposal approaches; SEC charges NY broker/dealer
Global Insurance: Insurers lean on analytics; FASB proposal; HSBC eyes Aviva's Asian ops
Erin Tanchico, Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
