First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE’s largest lender by assets, secured a custody licence from Egypt's regulator, the Financial Regulatory Authority.
The licence will facilitate membership of the country’s central securities depositary, Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (MCDR), allowing the lender to settle and clear trades on the Egyptian Exchange.
The move comes after FAB said last month it would buy the Egyptian subsidiary of Lebanon's Bank Audi, including its local custody franchise, for an undisclosed sum.
"We will offer domestic investors a full range of world class post-trade solutions, with our direct MCDR connectivity at its core," said Kashif Darr, managing director & head of securities services.
"We will also intermediate international capital flows into this strategic market, as part of our regional direct custody platform."
Egypt is FAB's fourth direct custody market within its Middle East network. The lender provides custody services in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon and Egypt. It also plans to launch services in Qatar and Kuwait.
FAB's deal to acquire the Egyptian operations of Bank Audi will make it one of the largest foreign lenders by assets in the Arab world's most populous country and North Africa's largest economy.
Bank Audi Egypt has 53 branches with total assets of $5.3 billion at the end of September. FAB already has 17 branches in Egypt.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
