Banking

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The global migration away from the London interbank offered rate hit a critical juncture Friday, with a new legal protocol opening the way for a wider adoption of alternative benchmarks. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, or ISDA, unveiled standardized contractual language, which will allow firms that haven’t fully prepared for Libor’s exit to incorporate transition clauses into their agreements. Lawyers say the move by the trade group that oversees the global…

NEW YORK(Capital Markets in Africa) — U.S. banks are taking too narrow of an approach when disclosing their exposure to climate risk and are potentially underestimating possible losses, according to a report released Monday. Bank disclosures tend to focus on direct loans to the fossil-fuel sector or the electricity industry, but their exposure is much broader, Ceres, a non-profit organization focused on sustainability, said in its report. More than half of banks’ syndicated-lending portfolios carry…

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ethiopia’s effort to stamp out counterfeiting by introducing new currency notes is pulling people who’ve never had a bank account into the financial system. At least 1.3 million previously unbanked Ethiopians have handed in their two-decade-old banknotes over the past month since the demonetization process was started, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told lawmakers on Monday. In exchange, they were given a bank account from which they can draw…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The head of Nigeria’s state oil company expressed confidence that the nation’s long-delayed oil and gas industry reforms will be passed by Parliament. The Petroleum Industry Bill, legislation that has been two decades in the making, seeks to overhaul the laws that govern the West African nation’s oil industry, reforming how it’s operated and funded. The legal framework hasn’t kept up with the country’s needs, Mele Kyari, group managing director of…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) — Zambian President Edgar Lungu told his new central bank chief to stabilize Africa’s worst-performing currency as the southern African nation tries to convince private creditors to provide debt relief. Lungu urged Governor Christopher Mvunga at a swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday to “redouble efforts” and work with the Finance Ministry to achieve stability in the kwacha, according to a speech emailed by the presidency. Lawmakers confirmed Mvunga’s appointment on Oct. 1. The…

LAGOS (Cap[ital Markets in Africa) — A wave of hefty fines against major banks in the past decade spurred an explosion in the number of transactions that lenders flag as suspect to the U.S. government. It’s not clear all the scrutiny is making a difference. Banks moved money for people or entities they couldn’t identify, and in many cases failed to file the required suspicious activity reports until years afterward, according to an investigation released over the…

CASABLACA (Capital Markets in Africa) — The economic disruptions caused by the spread of the coronavirus are exposing the limits of monetary policy in Morocco, with inflation staying below zero even after the central bank’s biggest interest-rate cut in history. An easing cycle that started in March has done little to get the $119 billion economies back on track just as other defenses are proving inadequate and virus cases surge. Reducing the benchmark from a…