Five things to know to start your Thursday

Hong Kong resumed its half-century run as the world’s freest economy, wresting the title from rival Singapore, according to a Canadian researcher.

Hong Kong’s score of 8.58 edged out Singapore’s 8.55, according to the Fraser Institute’s latest Economic Freedom of the World report, covering 2022. Last year, the researcher announced that Hong Kong had ceded the top spot for the first time since the ranking’s inception but after revising its data, the city ranked No. 1 all throughout, it said.

CBN, SEC sanction 10 banks for forex violations

Nigerian regulatory agencies have cracked down on 10 Deposit Money Banks for violating foreign exchange guidelines and other regulatory rules. The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed these sanctions. In the first six months of 2024, these agencies levied fines totaling N1.502 billion on the offending banks.

This wave of penalties highlights an ongoing issue: many financial institutions struggle to fully comply with the standards set by regulatory authorities. The list of penalised banks includes several well-known names in Nigeria’s banking sector: First City Monument Bank, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Zenith Bank, United Bank of Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, Sterling Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, and VFD Bank.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi named Hassan Mahmoud Rashad as the new head of the powerful general intelligence agency on Wednesday, appointing the outgoing chief Abbas Kamel as an adviser to the presidency.

The agency has played a leading role under Sisi, with Kamel handling foreign policy matters including the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, as well as domestic security issues linked to a long running crackdown on political dissent.

Rashad previously served as a deputy to Kamel.

Cardoso says CBN verifying disputed $2.4bn FX claims

The Central Bank of Nigeria has commenced a re-validation exercise to ascertain complaints of manufacturers and importers over foreign exchange claims worth $2.4bn.

The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this while speaking to the business community at a special summit dinner organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, on Tuesday night in Abuja.

He said the bank has finalised its first stage of verification and is currently going through a second stage to authenticate claims by manufacturers.

This new development comes eight months after the apex bank claimed to have cleared fx forwards worth $7bn, effectively eliminating a legacy burden.