What we’re tracking on 10 August 2017
We’re in the final stretch of summer, folks: Some schools are due to head back into session as early as next week, and we’re just three weeks away from the first day of the Eid Al-Adha vacation.
The central bank’s shakeup of management at state-owned banks is still in the cards and could come to pass in the coming few weeks as proposed amendments to the CBE and banking acts make their way through the system, a source told Al Masry Al Youm. The CBE is looking to appoint new board members and chairmen at the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and the Egyptian Arab Land Bank. New boards could be announced next month and appointed for three-year terms, the source adds. The shake up is reportedly part of the holdup on the IPO of Banque du Caire, which requested another six-month window in which to list after missing its original deadline.
Speaking of the banking act: The Federation of Egyptian Banks is set to send the CBE its comments within two weeks, the source tells AMAY. Further progress was reportedly made on controversial issues such as term limits to managing directors, the CBE representation at meetings of banks’ boards, and a proposal that banks kick in 5% of their bottom line for an industry development fund, the source adds. Take that assertion with a cup or two of salt.
Random thought of the morning: You have to admire Abu Dhabi. Where Dubai deploys bombast, AD quietly and decisively cuts straight to the chase, with the FT reporting that Western banks with large Qatari investors are being quietly and firmly boycotted in the capital of the UAE.
In our lazy TBR pile for this weekend: We know not all of you share our fascination with space, but the Financial Times’ video The bn’aire space raceis totally worth watching as it explores whether government or big business will fund the future of space exploration. The WSJ’s Simon Nixon looks back at the origins of the global financial crisis to conclude in one golden paragraph that ten years on, it’s those still in the workforce (and younger people in particular) who are paying the price of the global financial crisis. Got a great idea for a new tech product? Facebook will copy it — and crush you. And in the realm of the real: They’re remaking the resort that inspired “Dirty Dancing.”
Want more? Here’s what Goldman Sachs is telling customers about bitcoin and a rundown on everything Apple is due to release in the second half of 2017, including the iPhone 8 / iPhone Pro, which has reportedly entered mass production for a launch about a month from this week, plus or minus a few days.
Public Service Announcement #1: David Letterman is returning to “television” with an hourlong show for Netflix due to premier next year. And speaking of Netflix: It is about 81 days and change before Halloween, when the service is due to release the second season of Stranger Things. Did you miss the second trailer for Stranger Things, released at Comic Con in late July? We’ve got you covered (watch, run time: 3:03).
Public Service Announcement #2: Water service will be interrupted in certain areas in Giza for 12 hours starting 8pm CLT on Friday night for maintenance at the main station serving the neighborhoods, according to Al Mal.
The most-clicked stories in Enterprise in the past week included:
- Kourtney Kardashian in Egypt. (People, US magazine)
- Mark Zuckerberg and the perils of livestreaming. (Financial Times)
- Nobody drinks a goblet of wine like Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey. (Jimmy Kimmel on Youtube)
- How to Eat Breakfast Like a Fitness Expert (Esquire)
- We have a new EGX boss (AUC bio, Linkedin page)
- Saudi Crown Prince and U.A.E. Heir Forge Pivotal Ties (Wall Street Journal)