Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Cedrus Invest Bank client implicated in insider trading. Bank not named as defendant


The United States' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a legal case against unknown defenders, including a customer of Cedrus Invest Bank, on suspicions of insider trading in call options. The Cedrus client has realized a potential profit of around $527,000, according to SEC.

Contrary to rumors and actual brief by the SEC, The Chairman of Cedrus, Fadi Assali, said that the bank has nothing to do with this issue and will not be affected by it. The deal involves the customer ...

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Scale-up program to launch at UKLTH. Venture building accelerator program launched, Beirut Innovation Week confirmed


The UK Lebanon Tech Hub (UKLTH) will launch a scale-up program in September. The program will follow on from the venture accelerator program, The Nucleus, which was launched last week. Dimitri Papadimitriou, Acting Director of UKLTH, said the scale-up program is unconnected to The Nucleus.

"The scale-up program is still a work in progress. We are currently working on the program's branding aspects. Details of the program will be publically announced in the coming months," he said.
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Friday, April 7, 2017

Local fintech startups among top four countries regionally. Emerging sector showing positive signs


Lebanon is one of four countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that when combined account for almost 75 percent of all fintech startups launched in 12 countries regionally, according to the recently published report: State of Fintech, by WRL and PayFort. The other three countries are the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt.

The report revealed that 105 fintech startups had launched in the region by the start of 2016. This is expected to reach 250 by 2020.

Jad Salame, Managing Par...

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Monday, April 3, 2017

Bank Audi sells cards unit to M1 Group. Deal estimated at $185 million


Bank Audi has sold its electronic payment and card services business to M1 Financial Technologies, a subsidiary of M1 Group. M1 will operate the business via Areeba SAL.

The value of the deal is $185 million, but is subject to adjustment of up to $35 million. The deal includes acquiring the team, equipment, machines, and all points of sale. The completion of the deal is waiting for the final approval from the Central Bank, as well as the relevant service providers, including MasterCard an...

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