Last Night’s Talk Shows: EFG Hermes and due diligence on NBFS acquisitions + Ukraine

There was a fair amount of business news on the airwaves last night, triggered by new rules on non-bank acquisitions and FAB’s bid for EFG Hermes. First Abu Dhabi Bank’s acquisition offer was likely an incentive for the Financial Regulatory Authority to announce that approval from the authority would soon be required before conducting due diligence on non-banking financial institutions, head of industry lobby group the Egyptian Capital Market Association (ECMA) Mohamed Maher said in a phone-in with Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 4:37). Former head of the Egyptian Private Equity Association Hani Tawfik also called Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 2:35) to discuss EFG Hermes’ appointment of Goldman Sachs as lead advisor. We have more on the story in this morning’s M&A watch section, above.

The escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine also weighed on the talking heads’ minds last night. Egypt has the capacity to step in to export natural gas to Europe in the event that Russian supply dries up due to the geopolitical crisis over Ukraine, former oil minister Ossama Kamal said in a call with El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 7:35). Political pundit Abdel Moneim Said also dropped in to Yahduth Fi Misr (watch, runtime: 1:34) to weigh in on the tensions.

Also on the airwaves last night:

• Changes to the “old rent” law governing individuals’ rent of residential properties will likely be addressed over multiple phases, Housing Committee Undersecretary Tarek Shoukry said. (Lamis El Hadidi on Kelma Akhira | watch, runtime: 2:48)
• US climate envoy John Kerry’s visit to Cairo reaffirms the US’ support of Egypt ahead of COP27. (Lobna Assal on Al Hayah Al Youm | watch, runtime: 1:43)