Egypt Reform flurry

The flurry of mergers and acquisitions that has taken place in Egypt over the past few years continues apace, egged on by the Central Bank as part of the state’s privatization drive and reform of the sector. Following the implementation of a new law in 2003 that put the mantle of reform in the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) hands, the CBE has encouraged banks to merge and public sector banks to sell off holdings in joint-venture  banks whilst making it harder to enter the market without acquiring an existing bank. “They are setting up criteria for the sector to really expand, provided, of course, they go through with the privatization of the big four, which have 70% of the sector,” said Anwar Jammal, CEO of Lebanon’s Jammal Trust Bank, which operated in Egypt until recently. The liberalization of the sector really kicked off last fall with the sale of