Happy Sunday, friends, and welcome to a somewhat busy start to this (potentially) abridged workweek.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY-

#1- The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has given Macro Group the green light to publish the public subscription notice for its upcoming IPO, according to an FRA statement (pdf). The approval comes after the bourse listing committee signed off on Macro listing its shares on the EGX earlier this month. The group will sell up to 264.51 mn shares — or 45.8% of the company’s capital — at a maximum price of EGP 6.05 per share.

#2- Evolve Investment Holding plans to launch a EGP 500 mn gold-backed investment fund that will invest in precious metals, CEO Sameh El Torgoman tells Al Mal. The fund is geared towards investors who want to trade in gold through gold-backed securities that track its price. The company is in talks with three financial institutions for their participation in the fund. Enterprise is reaching out to the company for confirmation and further details.

^^ We’ll have more on these stories in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

HAPPENING NOW-

It’s a busy afternoon for the House of Representatives, with just about every committee getting through a stacked agenda. Among the most noteworthy bills and topics being taken up:

The new Ins. Act is up for discussion in a joint legislative and constitutional, planning and budgeting, and SMEs committee. The bill, which the Financial Regulatory Authority began drafting in 2018, would make the FRA the primary regulator for the sector. Last we heard, FRA boss Mohamed Omran said the new law could see the light by mid-2022.

Meanwhile, tuk-tuks appear to have a guardian angel in the House Industrial Committee, where an MP filed a discussion request to continue importing tuk-tuk components. The request comes after Trade Minister Nevine Gamea issued a decision late last year halting these imports, marking one of the few decisive steps the government has taken in its yearslong fight against the three-wheelers.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• The Enterprise Reader Survey says: 2021 was a very good year, with three quarters of you saying that last year was a good year to do business here — and optimism is the prevailing sentiment as we push ahead with 2022.
• Fawry eyes capital increase, US listing: EGX-listed e-payments giant Fawry has received approval from its board of directors to create an American depositary shares program, which would allow the company to list shares in the US.
• Raft of cooperation agreements with Korea: Egypt and Korea will conduct a joint feasibility study of a bilateral trade liberalization agreement after the two countries’ presidents agreed on the move last week. Korea will also provide us with soft loans worth USD 1 bn over the next five years, as well as a USD 251.6 mn development finance agreement that aims to upgrade the signaling systems for the Egypt-Luxor High Dam railway line.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- It’s (almost) all about Ukraine. The UK is picking up where it left off after accusing Russia yesterday of plotting a coup in Ukraine, with a senior UK minister today rattling the sanctions saber at Moscow if it follows through on the alleged coup, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, Bloomberg is looking at energy-starved Europe’s fate if Russia were to invade Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow would not stop the gas from flowing into the continent if a war were to break out, but serious sanctions from the West would force that scenario.

Over on the business side of the news cycle, the growing expectation that the US Federal Reserve will kick off its monetary tightening program in March with the first interest rate hike since 2018 is getting ink in the Financial Times and Bloomberg. The Fed’s Open Market Committee is sitting down for its first meeting of the year this Tuesday and Wednesday.

The outcome of the Fed’s meeting will be a key factor to watch here at home as the Central Bank of Egypt holds its inaugural interest rate meeting of 2022 a week later. The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 3 February.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Nahr Elkhair Development and Investment’s shares will start trading on the EGX on Tuesday. The company will directly list its shares on the bourse, without offering shares to investors via subscription, according to Al Shorouk.

PSA- We can probably all look forward to a four-day workweek this week as the nation takes Thursday off in observance of Police / Revolution Day, which falls on this Tuesday, 25 January. Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly confirmed yesterday that public sector workers will take the day, though we’re yet to hear from the EGX, the Central Bank of Egypt or the Manpower Ministry.

Startups have until next Sunday, 30 January to apply for the spring 2022 cycle of EGBank’s Mint Incubator. The incubator offers two tracks: A sector-agnostic track for startups at the MVP stage, and a fintech track that accepts early-stage startups both at the ideation and MVP stages. Main founders must be between 16-35 years old. You can apply here.

The Cairo International Book Fair starts on Thursday at the Egypt International Exhibition Center. Members of the public will be allowed to enter without providing proof of vaccination, the Culture Ministry said last week. The two-week event runs through to 7 February.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The lowest of nighttime lows tomorrow: Expect a daytime high of 15°C tomorrow before the mercury falls to 5°C at night — the coldest night on record this winter so far, according to our favorite weather app.

The entire week is set to be extremely cold and possibly rainy, warns the Egyptian Meteorological Authority.