VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The largest banks in Europe, such as Santander, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank, are set to report their earnings for the second quarter of 2024 this week following the announcement from the European Central Bank that it would not change its interest rates.

HSBC announced that Georges Elhedery, its chief financial officer, will become the firm’s next CEO effective Sept. 2.

Bank of America recently announced that its second-quarter revenue and profit from investment banking and asset management fees exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Morgan Stanley reported that profits performed better than expected across the board in the second quarter of 2024 despite investors shifting to higher-yielding assets.

The Australian government announced that it has approved the request of ANZ to acquire the banking business of Suncorp for $3.26 billion.

Visa has implemented sweeping changes on how its credit and debit cards are used in the United States through the introduction of a single physical card that could be connected to multiple bank accounts.

The New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has advised Electronic Benefits Transfer cardholders to make adjustments as the EBT system would be down for 11 hours on May 19.

Data analysts from the German cybersecurity consultancy SRLabs said that a large network of fake online designer shops apparently operated from China have stolen money and personal data from over 850,000 people in Europe and the United States.

India is using its wide biometric ID system, the Aadhar database, to bring banking services access to more of its people. An Indian bank already introduced an ATM where people can use their Aadhar ID number or ID card to make transactions instead of a PIN.

Goldman Sachs-backed consumer finance startup CompareAsiaGroup got its new CEO Sam Allen. In 2015, CompareAsiaGroup closed a Series A round of funding led by Goldman Sachs and is planning to go for a Series B round funding soon.

Giant South Africa-based international banking group Old Mutual has stated that they are considering all options as a result of a strategic review. Many believe that the group is planning to split itself into several business units.

Islamic Finance is catching up among non-Islamic markets also. Economists and finance experts say that Islamic Finance is the need of the hour for the global economy in the wake of sluggish markets and looming uncertainty. Islamic finance assets globally are expected to be $1.8 trillion by 2020.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting National Bank of Greece via its trade finance scheme. From 2015, EBRD is investing in Greece, helping the crisis-hit economy recover as early as possible.

HSBC Holdings Plc is not thinking it's time to deepen cuts at its securities unit. The bank's investment unit is suffering from drop in trading revenues amid sluggish financial markets. HSBC Holdings is aiming to reduce costs by $5 billion by 2017.

The summit will provide a platform for foreign investors, African companies, and regulators to meet, discuss relevant issues, and form relationships. East Africa has a strong potential to develop Islamic Finance because of the high demand for its services and products.