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Golden Ten Data reported on March 18 that, according to the Financial Times, the European Commission will delay the impact of global banking reforms, aiming to prevent EU lending institutions from being disadvantaged due to the US reducing capital requirements for major banks. According to two informed officials, Brussels will enact legislation after Easter to offset the short-term impact of the "Fundamental Review of the Trading Book" (FRTB), which is a core component of the Basel III framework for regulating market risk. The FRTB reform introduces a more risk-sensitive framework for trading activities, replacing the old model and imposing stricter rules on how banks measure potential losses and allocate capital buffers. The European Banking Authority estimates that implementing FRTB will increase market risk capital requirements by an average of about 30%, with some banks seeing increases as high as 80%. Prior to this postponement, lending institutions and politicians had called for a reduction in regulatory burdens and for ensuring that EU banks remain competitive.

Due to foreign investors losing interest in this emerging market trade, which has been the most favored in recent months, non-resident investors last week made a net sale of 41.3 billion rand (approximately $2.45 billion) in government bonds. According to the latest data from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) tracking settled trades, this is the largest weekly outflow on record since 2019. Expand

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index rose by 0.54%, surpassing 203,000 points, marking a historic closing high for the third consecutive trading day. The Mauritius Stock Exchange SEMDEX Index closed down by 0.42%, and the Kenya Nairobi Stock Exchange All Share Index closed down by 0.25%.