ECA to introduce bill on oversight of M&A within the next few months: The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) plans to introduce legislation within the coming two months that would require its stamp of approval on M&A transactions, ECA boss Mona El Garf said at a press conference on Monday.
Not all transactions will be subject to scrutiny by the regulator — reviews would be triggered at an as-yet undecided transaction size that El Garf said will likely be over EGP 100 mn. She did imply that smaller transactions may be required to receive approval at some point in the future. “Egypt is the only country in the Arab world and Africa where antitrust regulators do not have oversight authority on M&As,” said El Garf. As it stands, M&As larger than EGP 100 mn require the ECA be informed, but not its approval. The amendments, which were due in March, will be sent to the Trade and Industry Ministry in a month and a half for input, El Garf added, according to Al Shorouk.
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EGX, EFSA are moving to eliminate FX restrictions on GDR sales: The EGX’s newly constituted board of directors approved on Sunday the removal of restrictions that force the proceeds of global depository receipt sales be converted to EGP before being distributed to beneficiaries, according to Al Borsa. Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) head Sherif Samy said on Sunday that EFSA’s board will be removing the restrictions “in the coming days.” The regulations were put in place back in 2012 and tightened in 2015 at the height of the FX crunch. Meanwhile, the EGX has reportedly formed its new listing committee, according to Al Mal.
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Is outgoing EGX head Mohamed Omran in line to head EFSA? Word on the grapevine is that Mohamed Omran, who will officially leave his post as EGX chairman on 6 August, will be heading EFSA — or so sources tell Daily News Egypt. The newspaper is also claiming that Mohamed Farid, who previously served as vice chairman of the EGX, has been tapped by Investment Minister Sahar Nasr to head up the bourse. The newspaper claims to have been told that Prime Minister Sherif Ismail will officially announce the appointment of Farid within the week. As we have heard nothing recent on whether current EFSA boss Sherif Samy will continue in office, we urge readers to take the news with a grain of salt until something official comes along.
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Possible compromise between CBE and FEB on CBE and banking acts? Talks between the central bank and the Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB) on Sunday over controversial amendments to the CBE and Banking acts appear to be heading towards a compromise on some articles, sources tell Al Borsa.
The notion that banks be required to kick 5% of their net income into an industry development fund remains controversial for rather obvious reasons, but bank MDs are willing in principle to commit to making annual contributions to the fund.
Not yet resolved: Term limits for bank managing directors. As they stand, the proposed amendments do not contain clauses that set term limits, the source said — but they do give the CBE the option to impose them in the executive regulations of the central bank act. Al Borsa reports that the FEB raised no objections to the creation of mechanisms which would allow for “the injection of new blood” into leadership positions, but we don’t expect a quick compromise on the term limits issue so long as it’s left up to the CBE’s discretion in the executive regs.
The meeting reportedly saw headway on the central bank’s power to appoint members ofa bank’s board of directors. The CBE and the FEB worked out an arrangement by which the central bank will only be allowed to sit on board meetings in “particular and special circumstances.”
Bankers raised no objection to expanding the power of the CBE governor at the expense of the CBE’s board, Al Borsa claims.
Issues that remain to be ironed out reportedly include a proposal that the CBE governor’s appointment not be subject to confirmation in the House of Representatives and the penalties set for violations of the two acts.
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Egypt’s external debt climbed 32.5% y-o-y to USD 73.9 bn in 9M2016-17, according to data from the central bank. M2 moneysupply rose 39.4% y-o-y during FY2016-17 to EGP 2.9 tn by the end of June, the CBE also said, according to Reuters.
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Emaar Chairman Mohamed Alabbar has appetite for new opportunities in Egypt — and may once again be looking at investing in the New Administrative Capital. Also on the high-profile real estate and retail guru’s list: New Alamein, Cairo, and South Sinai, according to a statement from the Investment Ministry. Alabbar expressed interest during a meeting with Minister Sahar Nasr, but no further detail was disclosed. Alabbar’s Capital City Partners had been tapped during the EEDC to build what was to be called The Capital Cairo, but the agreement began falling apart in the summer of 2015. Anything that would see Alabbar return in force to Omm El Donia would be most welcome.
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BPE Partners has reportedly decided not to participate in an Education Ministry tender to build 200 schools under a PPP framework, an unconfirmed report in Al Mal said yesterday. Feasibility studies conducted after BPE was shortlisted revealed that the EGP 3 bn project is not in sync with the company’s current strategy, sources tell the newspaper. Orascom Construction, Al Maadaen Holding, Carillion, and a consortium led by the UK’s Bridge Capital were also among those shortlisted for the project.
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SODIC and Vodafone Egypt will offer a package of internet and smart-home services at all SODIC developments, according to a joint press release (pdf). The new service, branded SODIC GoSmart, will be powered by Vodafone and give homeowners at SODIC developments access to high-speed internet, surveillance, and home automation services. “SODIC is very well-known for applying the highest quality standards in developing its diversified project portfolio,” SODIC Managing Director Magued Sherif said. “We equipped our projects with the most advanced technology infrastructure, which enables us to introduce the latest solutions to cater to our customers’ needs.”
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Subsidy cuts drive down food consumption: 34% of Egyptians have begun curbing their consumption of various consumer goods, most notably food, as a result of the recent fuel and electricity subsidy cuts, according to a poll the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion (Baseera) released yesterday (pdf). 84% of those polled also said that their monthly expenditures have seen a jump. Nearly two thirds of respondents said they see a correlation between the lifting of fuel and electricity subsidies and the increase in prices of other commodities, and 66% said they do not approve of the subsidy cuts. The poll notes that dissatisfaction with the decision is more prevalent among young respondents, 80% of whom said they do not approve, while those aged above 50 were split more or less down the middle. 68% of lower-income respondents disapproved of the subsidy cuts, compared to 62% of high-income respondents.
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Qatar filed yesterday a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the “trade boycott” imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, Reuters reports. “By formally ‘requesting consultations’ with the three countries, the first step in a trade dispute, Qatar triggered a 60 day deadline for them to settle the complaint or face litigation at the WTO and potential retaliatory trade sanctions.” Ostensibly absent from the list of countries whose boycott Doha is challenging is Egypt, but Qatar’s WTO representative Ali Alwaleed al-Thani tells the newswire that “obviously all options are available.”
Meanwhile, Israel is jumping on the anti-Al Jazeera bandwagon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his communications minister to look into shutting down the network, which he says “does not cease to incite to violence around the Temple Mount,” Arutz Sheva reports.
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Italy and France sent a warning to Turkey about the Cypriot gas drilling dispute, Euractiv reports. Italian Minister of Defence Roberta Pinotti visited Cyprus and included statements about French warships in the area as a warning to Turkey. Turkey doesn’t recognize the Cypriot right of drilling in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) after peace talks between Turkish and Greek sides of the nation fell apart in early July. Approximately 4k bcm of natural gas have been found in Eastern Mediterranean EEZs in the last few years, and exploration has increased lately. Previous analysis has claimed the Turkish government is using the issue to score political points locally and that this play is disrupting exploration in the entire region.
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Hotel of Doom gets a makeover: North Korea’s Ryugyong Hotel, commonly known as Hotel of Doom, got a makeover, according to the Associated Press. The renovations showed “two broad new walkways leading to the building and the big red propaganda sign declaring that North Korea is a leading rocket power.” The hotel was “little more than an embarrassing concrete shell for well over a decade” before Orascom Group helped pay for work to complete building its exterior in 2011, the piece notes. Orascom Telecom Media and Technology had to write off the fair value of its mobile operator in North Korea, Koryolink, in 2015, as its auditor was “not able to verify the fair value that will be recovered at the balance sheet date.” The company also exited a banking venture in the hermit country in December 2016.
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Other international headlines worth a skim this morning:
- How to lose a guy in 10 days: US President Donald Trump fired recently appointed White House communications director and former Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci just over a week into his role, Reuters reports. The Donald’s new chief of staff, John Kelly, reportedly demanded The Mooch be axed after he “attacked then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, in profanity-laden terms” in comments to The New Yorker.
- Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics, swapping the 2024 games withParis, Reuters reports. The agreement between the two cities “turned the spotlight on security challenges facing the French capital while giving Los Angeles, which last hosted the Olympics 33 years ago, ample time to upgrade its public transportation system.”
- UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s office has said that free movement for European Union citizens will end in 2019, Reuters reports.
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