Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CAIRO2967
2005-04-18 15:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

EGYPTIAN AMERICAN BANK TO BE SOLD

Tags:  ECON EAID EFIN EG 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 002967 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, AND EB/IFD
TREASURY FOR MILLS/NUGENT/PETERS
USAID FOR ANE/MEA MCCLOUD
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ANESA/TALAAT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2015
TAGS: ECON EAID EFIN EG
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN AMERICAN BANK TO BE SOLD


Classified by Charge Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 002967

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, AND EB/IFD
TREASURY FOR MILLS/NUGENT/PETERS
USAID FOR ANE/MEA MCCLOUD
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ANESA/TALAAT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2015
TAGS: ECON EAID EFIN EG
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN AMERICAN BANK TO BE SOLD


Classified by Charge Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Roderick Richards (protect),Managing Director of
the Egyptian American Bank (EAB),told the Charge on April 18
that the Board of EAB intended to put the bank up for sale.
Richards said the EAB Board would meet on April 19 to approve
the intended sale, and that public announcement would follow
on aPRIL 20. RichardS noted that the Board would bring in an
investment firm to broker the deal, which he believed would
be concluded by the end of the year or the first quarter of

2006. Richards predicted that EAB would be purchased either
by a large Gulf bank seeking to recycle petrodollars or a
multinational wanting to establish or expand its presence in
Egypt.


2. (SBU) EAB is a joint venture bank partially owned by
American Express and the Bank of Alexandria (BOA). Richards
had recently indicated that American Express and BOA were
under pressure from the GOE to sell EAB quickly, as part of
the GOE's effort to divest its shares in joint venture banks,
one of the benchmarks in the GOE-USG MOU on financial sector
reform. BOA is also the public bank identified by the GOE
for privatization by 12/31/2005, another of the benchmarks
agreed upon in the MOU. The sale of EAB will increase BOA's
assets, improving its market value as it prepares to
privatize.


3. (SBU) Comment: News of the impending sale of EAB
indicates that the GOE is taking seriously its commitment to
meeting the benchmarks in the MOU, or at a minimum, to
maintain the current reform momentum in the banking
sector.End comment.


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GRAY