Barclays sells Egyptian Business to Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank

Barclays sells Egyptian Business to Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Britain’s Barclays has completed the sale of its Egyptian business to Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank as part of its shift towards focussing on the United States and Britain. The sale will mean a cut of about 2 billion pounds in Barclays’ risk-weighted assets, it said on Tuesday, boosting the bank’s core capital ratio by about 0.1 percent. Barclays did not give a price for the transaction, although sources previously told Reuters…

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De-Risking in Africa is on the risk according to latest Swift data

De-Risking in Africa is on the risk according to latest Swift data

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The latest SWIFT data shows that many countries in Africa have seen a reduction in the number of foreign counterparties, the overseas banks with which African banks transact. The data was part of a new report looking at the impact of global regulations on correspondent banking networks, called ‘Addressing the unintended consequences of de-risking – Focus on Africa’, which was released at the SWIFT Business Forum South Africa, in…

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Implementing an IFRS 9 Solution: Challenges Faced by Financial Institutions

Implementing an IFRS 9 Solution: Challenges Faced by Financial Institutions

Background IFRS 9 is a new international standard set forth to address the weaknesses of IAS 39. This article provides an overview of the new standard and analyzes the major challenges financial institutions will face in ensuring compliance. While there is still uncertainty in terms of implementation approaches, we believe IFRS 9 adoption will lead to a more efficient and lower-risk financial system. As part of the response to the last financial crisis, the International…

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What are the African Central Banks doing: Keeps, Slashes or Hikes?

What are the African Central Banks doing: Keeps, Slashes or Hikes?

Angola’s central bank leaves benchmark lending rate unchanged at 16 pct The National Bank of Angola (Banco Nacional de Angola, BNA) left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 16 percent during its latest monetary policy meeting. The Central Bank has raised the Basic Interest Rate three times since the beginning of the year in an effort to combat spiraling inflation; the previous hike was at the monthly meeting in June. Inflation has been soaring due…

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South Africa’s Banks: Examining the Current Environment, Exploring the 10 Year Outlook

South Africa’s Banks: Examining the Current Environment, Exploring the 10 Year Outlook

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The 2015/16 Global Competitive Index, published by the World Economic Forum, rates the SA banking sector 6 out of 140 countries in the availability of financial services and 8th in the soundness of banks. This is high praise for a banking sector that is small in global terms, but is globally connected and punches way above its weight globally. The quarterly S A Reserve Bank Report details statistics that…

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Mauritius’ Banking Sector: Overview, Challenges and Opportunities

Mauritius’ Banking Sector: Overview, Challenges and Opportunities

Banking Sector Overview Over 20 banks operate in Mauritius and, in addition to traditional banking services, they offer a range of specialised services ranging from custodial services to cross-border activities. Half of these banks offer retail banking services to residents – a space dominated by a couple of players – while the rest focus on specialised international banking services and also include a couple of purely private banks. In Mauritius, the domestic operations are typically…

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The Banking Bill: A State of Transition for the Kenyan Banking Sector

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) –  Banking (Amendment) Bill by Parliament to cap banks’ lending rates at 400 bps above the Central Bank of Kenya’s base rate and impose a deposit floor at 70% of the CBR was signed into law on 24th of August 2016. If the law is implemented immediately, banks will charge a maximum of 14.5% on loans while paying about 7.35% on deposits held in interesting earning deposits. Impact on Banks…

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