198 Nigeria News

Tag: Bank

  • United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group Expands to EMEA, Launches Banking Operations in Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group Expands to EMEA, Launches Banking Operations in Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai

    [ad_1]

    LAGOS, NIGERIA – EQS Newswire – 21 July 2022 – The United Bank for Africa (UBA), Africa’s global bank has been in operation for over seven decades. Today, the group is present in 20 African countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and France. The bank has extended its operations to the United Arab Emirates with the official launch of its new branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

    United Bank for Africa Plc (DIFC Branch) will operate under the Category 4 license and will be regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the financial regulatory agency of the special economic zone, the Dubai International Financial Centre.

    The UBA branch in the DIFC will service corporate & financial Institutions and customers across the Middle East with a core focus on correspondent banking, relationship management and advisory services.

    Through this new expansion, the UBA Group will be able to harness opportunities in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), which comprise of 72 countries with an approximate population of 3 billion and a nominal GDP of US$7.7 trillion and thereby, reinforce its strong franchise as Africa’s Global Bank, facilitating trade and capital flows between Africa and the rest of the world.

    Speaking during the launch of the new subsidiary in Dubai on Thursday, the Chairman, UBA Group, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, explained that with the Group’s foray into the Gulf Region, UBA continues to focus on its strategic intent to lead the way when it comes to doing business in Africa. He said “Collaborating with our franchises in 20 African countries and the major financial centres of London, New York and Paris, UBA (DIFC Branch) will facilitate the financing of trade transactions between the Middle East and Africa, enabling trade finance and investments,” Elumelu said.

    ‘We have been looking forward to this day as it is the first time we will have presence in this part of the world. We know that our international expansion is incomplete if we are not present in the gulf’, he continued

    UBA’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, who also spoke at the event said, “Today, we are formally on four continents across the globe, operating in 24 countries, serving over 35 million customers and still growing.

    “We are the only bank with Nigerian origin that has extended out of Nigeria to the UAE. Those before us have come through other locations and that shows the strength and respect the Dubai authorities have for UBA. Our presence in Dubai affirms that UBA is a strong franchise, expanding its reach across the world,” Uzoka said.

    “The authorities and business environment here in the DIFC is phenomenal and UBA is seeing Dubai as the gateway for Africa and that is why we are here, to be closer to our clients, to be partnering with them and facilitate businesses and trade flows into Africa through the UBA franchise. So, we are super excited.

    On his part, the CEO, UBA(DFIC), Mr. Vikrant Bhansali, said; “Trade, commerce and Investments in Africa is expanding in the Gulf Region and Asia. Leveraging the presence of UBA Group in global financial centres, UBA (DFIC) will enhance the ability of the group to facilitate access of Gulf investors and banks to African markets. We will finance trade, facilitate commerce and help grow investment in Africa, across all sectors.”

    Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai International Financial Centre(DIFC) Authority, said during the ribbon cutting ceremony “UBA(DFIC) attests to the strong relationship between Dubai and Africa. It is a beautiful start as we are looking forward to achieving more interaction, channelling more trade and investments into Africa, and with UBA DIFC, we are closer to achieving our objectives. DIFC will continue to seek partnerships that will deliver winning relationships as we have just witnessed with UBA Group.

    Download image 1: https://bit.ly/3BespMf (Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Ndubisi Chiugo; Chief Executive Officer, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority, Prince Arif Amiri; Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Tony O. Elumelu; Governor, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), His Excellency Essa Kazim; Group Managing Director/CEO, United Bank for Africa (UBA) , Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; and Managing Director, UBA (DIFC), Mr. Vikrant Bhansali, at the official launch of UBA (DIFC), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Thursday)

    Download image 2: https://bit.ly/3O9VfA9 (Chief Executive Officer, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority, Prince Arif Amiri; Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Tony O. Elumelu; Governor, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), His Excellency Essa Kazim; Group Managing Director/CEO, United Bank for Africa (UBA) , Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; and Managing Director, UBA (DIFC Branch), Mr. Vikrant Bhansali, at the official launch of UBA (DIFC Branch), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Thursday)

    Hashtag: #UnitedBankforAfrica

    The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

    About UBA Group:

    United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-seven million customers across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries. With presence in New York, London and Paris and now the UAE, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Judge and security forces raid Lebanon’s central bank

    Judge and security forces raid Lebanon’s central bank

    [ad_1]

    BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese investigative judge with security personnel raided the Central Bank on Tuesday in a divisive investigation against the country’s embattled governor.

    Judge Ghada Aoun had been investigating Governor Riad Salameh, and in March charged him with illicit enrichment and money laundering.

    A handful of European countries including Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein are also investigating Salameh for alleged money laundering and embezzlement.

    In late March, in an initiative by Germany, France, and Luxembourg, the European Union froze $130 million worth of Lebanese assets belonging to five unnamed Lebanese. They accused the suspects of embezzling over $330 million and 5 million euros ($5.5 million) respectively between 2002 and 2021. It is widely believed that Riad Salameh and his brother Raja are among them.

    Lebanon continues to suffer from a staggering economic crisis that pulled over three-quarters of its population into poverty.

    Many hold Salameh responsible for the crisis, citing policies that drove up national debt and caused the Lebanese pound to lose 90% of its value against the dollar. The 71 year-old Central Bank governor still enjoys backing from post of Lebanon’s political parties, and has been in the post for nearly three decades.

    The judge arrived to the Central Bank headquarters in Beirut with personnel from Lebanese State Security, and entered the premises to try to find Salameh.

    Aoun told the press after leaving the premises that she did not find Salameh and was unable to look for him in the building’s offices and storage rooms. “We immediately received a judicial order (to leave),” she said.

    State security forces earlier Tuesday raided Salameh’s home, but he was not there.

    Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the raid in a statement, calling it a “brash” move for a sensitive file in the troubled country.

    “What is required is to solve this case with a prior political agreement on a central bank governor, and then take the appropriate legal course after,” Mikati said.

    Judge Aoun has pursued Salameh for months in a divisive investigation. In January, she froze his assets as a “precautionary measure, ” after he did not show up for a questioning in a lawsuit filed by a Lebanese anti-corruption group.

    She had also charged Salameh’s brother, Raja, for being involved in the formation of three illusive companies in France alongside Ukrainian citizen Anna Kosakova to purchase real estate worth nearly $12 million there. Raja was detained in March and released in May on record bail worth $3.7 billion.

    [ad_2]

    Source link