New regulation is in the pipeline for the financial industry, with mergers and acquisitions and private placements set to come under closer scrutiny as a result of two separate reviews of existing legislation.

ECA to have signoff on M&As? The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) intends to finalize by March amendments to the Competition Protection Act that would give it the authority to approve mergers and acquisitions AMAY reported, citing ECA chief Mona El Garf. The amendments to the act would require approval from the House of Representatives.

The Investment Ministry has formed a committee to study amendments to the Capital Markets Law, Al Mal reported. The amendments could entail changes to how private placements are regulated and will also cover the issuance of sukuks and allow trades on the EGX to be reversed when international money laundry is suspected, the newspaper says. The amendments would also give the EGX flexibility to set lower listing fees to attract smaller companies to the bourse, said Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) chief Sherif Samy. The committee will be led by Khorshid, and will include Samy, the CEO of the General Authority for Free Zones and Investments, as well as representatives from the CBE, the EGX, and the ministries of justice, finance, and parliamentary affairs.