Egypt’s financial regulator said on Wednesday it would decide next week on whether to approve plans by Egypt’s biggest investment bank EFG-Hermes (HRHO.CA) to tie up with Qatar’s QInvest.
EFG-Hermes and QInvest sealed the agreement in May to hive off EFG-Hermes’s investment banking business in a joint venture in which state-backed QInvest would hold a 60 percent stake.
“We will take our decision next week,” Ashraf El-Sharkawy, chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA), told Reuters, when asked if EFSA would approve the plan by EFG-Hermes and Qinvest for an investment bank.
He did not give further details.
In September, Shareholders in EFG-Hermes reaffirmed their approval of the tie-up after demands by the regulator for more details were met. EFSA had rejected decisions approved by shareholders in June because the firm had not clarified points including minority rights.
Reuters
