MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
* A surge in M&A deals among banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council is unlikely, as the main objective behind consolidations in the region is to create domestic market leaders instead of realizing cost savings, according to Fitch Ratings.
* Nineteen banks in the UAE saw a 12.3% year-over-year growth in first-quarter net profits to 10.7 billion dirhams, driven by rising oil prices, state news agency WAM wrote.
* Abraaj Group Ltd.
* Meanwhile, U.S. real estate and investment management firm Colony NorthStar Inc. ended discussions to acquire a majority stake in Abraaj's fund management unit after its due diligence raised concerns about the struggling buyout firm, insiders told Bloomberg News.
* The Commodities and Securities Authority in the UAE is requiring credit rating agencies to get a license from the regulator to conduct activities in the country, Argaam reported.
* Abu Dhabi National Insurance Co. PSC CEO Ahmad Idris said the company plans to expand in Europe, adding that the firm has recently opened an office in London, Al Bayan reported.
* Hedva Ber, the Bank of Israel's supervisor of banks, said the regulator is set to publish proposals that will allow banks to repurchase their own shares in addition to making dividend payments, Reuters reported. The move, which will potentially make the country's banks more attractive to investors, should be in place around early July, Ber added.
* Israel's parliamentary finance committee postponed the implementation of a new law regulating alternative financial services, including money changers and cryptocurrency-related businesses, to Oct. 1 from June 1 initially, CTech wrote.
* The IMF urged Bahrain to consider introducing corporate income tax, in addition to the planned implementation of value-added tax, in order to boost its finances, noting that the recent decline in oil prices have heightened the country's fiscal and external vulnerabilities.
* National Bank of Oman SAOG's board of directors has accepted the resignation of Mohammad Saif Ullah Khan as head of compliance with retro effect from May 21.
* A court in the Cayman Islands found that al-Gosabi family, who owned Saudi conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers, had been working with Maan al-Sanea, who led the Saad group, to defraud more than 100 banks in a span of over two decades, The Daily Telegraph reported.
* Capital Intelligence Ratings affirmed National Bank of Kuwait SAKP's long- and short-term foreign currency ratings at AA-/A1+ and Commercial Bank of Kuwait KPSC's financial strength rating at A-.
* The IMF said Tunisian authorities have expressed their firm commitment to implement urgent economic reforms, which will pave the way for the country to qualify for another tranche of loans amounting to approximately $257 million as part of its four-year loan program.
EAST AND WEST AFRICA
* Kenyan regulators will investigate 10 financial institutions for processing client transactions related to stolen funds from the National Youth Service, according to the country's Directorate of Criminal Investigations. Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said banks including KCB Group Plc and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd., showed carelessness in handling the transactions, with the theft estimated in the billions of shillings.
* Kenya's Treasury outlined proposals to introduce a 35% corporate tax rate for firms with an annual income of more than 500 million shillings to help spur economic growth, Reuters reported. The proposed corporate income tax rate would be the highest in East Africa, where most countries impose a corporate tax rate of 30%.
* Kenya's National Treasury has pumped 500 million shillings into state-owned Consolidated Bank of Kenya Ltd. last week to support the lender after a string of losses nearly wiped out its capital base, Standard Digital wrote.
* Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
* Central Bank of Nigeria Deputy Governor Adebayo Adelabu is stepping down, effective July 15, Premium Times noted.
* Barclays Africa Group Ltd.
* The Bank of Ghana has instructed banks that may not be able to meet the new 400 million cedis capital requirement by the 2018-end deadline to submit their merger plans, Citi Business News reported. Meanwhile, Bank of Ghana First Deputy Governor Maxwell Opoku-Afari said the regulator will introduce a new cybersecurity regulation for banks in the next couple of weeks, Joy Online wrote.
* MoneyGram launched a new money transfer service in Ghana called CashGram Direct, which will permit the direct sending of money to individual bank accounts, Financial Afrik said.
* Having received regulatory permission, Burkina Faso's new Wend Kuni Bank will open on Thursday in the country's capital Ouagadougou, reported Confidentiel Afrique.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
* South Africa's National Treasury has backed Daniel Matjila, CEO of state pension fund Public Investment Corp., following a Bloomberg News report, citing sources, that he could face suspension amid an investigation over his role in several questionable investments made by the PIC, Reuters wrote.
* FirstRand Ltd.'s Ashburton Investments will launch a new debt-instrument investment fund that will invest in opportunities in South Africa as well as Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, Bloomberg News wrote, citing money manager Ashley Benatar. The Ashburton Mezzanine Fund, which already raised more than 500 million rand in its first fundraising round, is targeting 1 billion rand within the next 12 months before closing to investors.
* Stanbic Africa Holdings Ltd., a wholly owned unit of South Africa's Standard Bank Group Ltd. and parent company of Nigera's Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, acquired additional 1,141,191,943 shares in Stanbic IBTC Holdings in an off-market transaction, increasing its stake in the Nigerian firm to 64.44%.
* South African microlender Finbond Group Ltd. has fired KPMG as an external auditor, joining a string of clients, including the South African government and Barclays Africa Group, that have severed ties with the accounting firm after it was embroiled in a scandal involving the politically connected Gupta family, Reuters noted.
* Mohamed Husain was appointed lead independent director of both Barclays Africa Group and Absa Bank Ltd. boards, effective June 1. He replaces Trevor Munday, who retired May 15.
* New York-based short seller Viceroy Research said it is prepared to appear in South Africa's parliament to substantiate the allegations it made against Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd., but that it has yet to receive a formal invitation, Bloomberg News wrote, citing Viceroy founder Fraser Perring.
* Angola's SNEBA banking trade union said it was concerned about the high level of nonperforming loans in credit portfolios and urged banks to adopt mechanisms to help defaulters get up to date with their payment commitments, state news agency Angop reported.
* Angola's central bank said it would gradually start allowing account holders normal access to their foreign currency deposits, Novo Jornal reported. An acute shortage of foreign currency in the country in recent years has meant foreign currency account holders have not been able to freely access their funds, with most banks imposing weekly or daily withdrawal limits.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong fines Hang Seng Bank unit; Nippon Life buys stake in MassMutual Japan
Europe: Deutsche Bank commits to US amid cuts; Italy crisis may delay RBS stake sale
Latin America: Brazil fund completes Banco do Brasil stake sale; BancoEstado names CFO
North America: Independent Bank buying MNB Bancorp; National Bank of Canada's fiscal Q2 EPS up
North America Insurance: Icahn rips AmTrust; Virginia to expand Medicaid; Berkshire eyed Uber investment
Sheryl Obejera, Henni Abdelghani, Pádraig Belton, and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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