IslamicFinance.de

A joint venture deal between Middle East’s EFG-Hermes and Qatar’s QInvest has failed because the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority did not approve it in time. Under the terms of the deal, QInvest would have injected $250m into a joint venture banking business, and owned 60 per cent. Businessmen in Egypt have complained that, since the 2011 revolution officials have shied away from making big decisions because of fears over possible allegations of corruption. Analysts had also speculated that the failure of the regulator to approve the deal might be linked to the trial of the two chief executives of EFG-Hermes, alongside the two sons of the former president, over profits from the 2007 sale of El Watany Bank of Egypt. However, EFG-Hermes has said in the past that it did not believe the case had anything to do with the delay in approving the joint venture.

Five senior members of QInvest have been replaced in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency while maintaining the bank’s strategic direction which is now concentrated on the joint venture with Egypt’s EFG-Hermes.