Banking

LONDON (Capital Marketds in Africa) – Just weeks before the European Central Bank gets its first-ever female president, another milestone for the institution is being set by Ireland. Gabriel Makhlouf, a Briton who was a top civil servant in New Zealand, becomes the Irish central bank chief this week. He is the ECB Governing Council’s first member who isn’t a citizen of the country appointing him. While Christine Lagarde’s impending ECB presidency is unprecedented, that role has citizenship…

LONDON (Capital Marketds in Africa) – London’s outsized role in the global insurance industry is being whittled down by Brexit. As much as 61 billion pounds ($75 billion) of business is shifting to rival financial centers in the European Union as a consequence of Britain’s vote to leave the bloc. And it’s happening regardless of the divorce terms. The EU’s insurance and pensions regulator has ordered every U.K.-based underwriter to transfer policies held by European clients to…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Global banks are preparing their staff in the U.K. for big changes as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit in October looms. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Nomura Holdings Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among those taking action as the British government tries to stare downthe European Union on the terms of withdrawal, increasing the chance of a chaotic exit from the bloc that could curb access to talent and certain markets. JPMorgan…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The central bank announced last week it had revoked the licenses of savings and loans companies as well as finance houses and appointed a receiver to manage their affairs. The steps marked the end of an industry cleanse of lenders and second-level financial institutions that started in August 2017 and cost the government at least 12 billion cedis ($2.2 billion) in bonds and cash to cover depositors’ holdings. The…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa)  – KCB Group Plc is targeting an increase in full-year earnings of as much as 12% as Kenya’s biggest bank boosts lending and scouts for acquisitions to bolster an African expansion. That’s more than double the pace in the first half as the Nairobi-based lender chases double-digit loans growth for the full year, mainly in the personal, corporate and manufacturing space, Chief Executive Officer Joshua Oigara said. An expansion of KCB’s mobile-banking services…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Absa Group Ltd.’s push to reclaim market share lost while under the control of Barclays Plc is beginning to pay off at the South African lender’s main retail-banking business. First-half net income climbed 5.4% to 7.64 billion rand ($500 million) as Absa provided more personal loans and credit cards, while boosting the revenue it generates from fees and commissions, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement Tuesday. The improvement at its…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa needs to speed up reforms to save beleaguered state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and attract investors back to the country, according to the chief executive officer of Nedbank Group Ltd. “For us, energy policy and Eskom remain the elephant in the room in the South African economy,” Mike Brown said in a phone interview after the lender posted a slight rise in first-half net income. “If the previous…