By Mohamed Momoh | This Day, Nigeria

Allan Gray Ltd., the largest manager of non-government investment funds in Africa, has increased its stake in Zenith and Access Banks.

The South African investor, based in Cape Town, is betting on Nigeria’s banking industry despite poor performances by the oil companies it depends on and widespread calls for the naira to be further devalued, reported Bloomberg yesterday.

Allan Gray’s Chief Investment Officer, Andrew Lapping disclosed the investment move in a February 10 interview in Cape Town.

He didn’t say how big the holdings are or how many shares his company had bought in each of the banks.

“We see a lot of value in Nigerian banks,” Lapping said. “Most people think they’re all going to zero because of the bad debts. We think they will survive” because high interest rates make the banks profitable and they have less debts to equity compared with European lenders, he said.

Trading data for the month of January showed that 232.210 million shares of Zenith Bank valued at N3.605 billion were traded. Last December, 224.007 million shares worth N3.234 billion were traded.

In the case of Access Bank, 264.230 million units of the bank’s shares valued at N1.789 billion exchanged ownership in January while 171.570 million shares valued at N953.045 million were traded in December.

Access Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe said last month that the bank’s non-performing loans were expected to climb to “slightly below 3 per cent of total loans by the end of 2017”.

That compares with 2.1 per cent for the nine months through September.

The banking industry is under stress in Nigeria, where the economy was in a recession during 2016.

Non-performing loans escalated to almost three times the regulatory maximum and foreign investors are calling for authorities to boost flexible trading of the naira before putting more money into the country.

An oil price at half its 2014 levels, combined with sabotage and attacks on oil installations that have cut output, has limited dollar supplies in the country, which vies with Angola as Africa’s largest crude-oil producer.

The bad-debt ratio at Nigerian banks rose to 13.4 per cent last year. The naira was devalued in June and traded at 315.50 to the dollar by 6.53 a.m. in Lagos yesterday, while the unofficial, black-market rate was 507 naira to the dollar.

The official exchange rate should fall to 370 by the end of the year, Craig Metherell, an analyst at Avior Capital Markets Ltd. in Cape Town, said in a February note to investors. Investors are frustrated by central bank policies, he said.

“Dollar illiquidity and the inability to predict the central bank’s decisions remains a constant deterrent to dollar-based investors,” Metherell said. “While we argue that valuations look cheap, we find it difficult to justify investing new money given the current status quo.”

But Allan Gray isn’t the only investor that’s interested in Nigerian lenders.

Laurie Dippenaar, chairman of Johannesburg-based FirstRand Ltd., Africa’s largest bank by market value, said last month that it’s looking to buy a mid-sized bank.

Diamond Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Wema Bank Plc were among mid-sized Nigerian lenders that plummeted more than 40 per cent last year as the domestic economy performed the worst since the 1980s.

“Everyone thinks the naira is going to weaken, but I’m not so sure,” Lapping said. “The bad-debt problem can cure itself over time.”

Nigerian banks are also attractive because of their small size — in an economy that vies with South Africa as the continent’s largest — adds to their growth potential, while lending as a proportion of equity remains low at 3.5 times, Lapping said. Still, the industry’s exposure to oil remains a concern, he said.

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest bank by value, has a market capitalization of N715 billion ($2.3 billion), Access Bank is valued at about N194 billion and Zenith at about N475 billion.

FirstRand, on the other hand, has a market value of 293 billion rand ($22 billion).

The Nigerian Stock Exchange Banking 10 Index has climbed 0.7 per cent this year as gains by Access Bank, Zenith, United Bank for Africa Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc helped compensate for losses in the other six members of the gauge.

“Maybe we’ve dug ourselves into a hole” by investing in Nigerian banks, Lapping said. “Even if it’s 50-50, going bust or going up, the upside is so much that it’s worth the risk.”

Source:https://asokoinsight.com/news/south-african-investor-laps-up-zenith-acce...

By Mohamed Momoh | This Day, Nigeria

The federal government has said it is yet to decide the amount it would borrow from the World Bank.

The Minister for Budget and National Planning, Chief Udoma Udo Udoma, disclosed this yesterday while fielding questions from State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at which Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo presided.

The meeting, which lasted till about 6pm was the longest in the history of this administration.

The World Bank loan is to be partly used to finance the 2017 budget.

When asked how much would the country be asking for from the World Bank, Udoma said: “The figure will depend on the (2017) budget approved by the National Assembly.”

Udoma’s response was a departure from the $2.5 billion the federal government had earmarked for borrowing from the World Bank under the three-year $30 billion foreign borrowing plan, which is still awaiting approval at the National Assembly.

The budget minister, however, admitted that funding constraints had made it difficult to release funds for capital projects.

However, he said due to the peace in the Niger Delta, revenue was beginning to improve.

He said: “Because of the funding constraints, the budget has a deficit, I travelled with the Minister of Finance and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor to market the Eurobond.

“As you can see, the Eurobond was oversubscribed by about eight times, so the funds are coming in, there is more stability in the Niger Delta, so more monies are coming in.”
Udoma also said the council yesterday spent hours fine-tuning the Economy Recovery Growth Plan.

He also said the council had extension discussion on the plan.

According to him, the growth plan is still being fine-tuned.

The minister said: “But a lot of inputs were made by council members and it is virtually ready for the president to launch. However, we are doing some fine-tuning and during this period we also do some final consultation before the president launches the plan.”

He said the plan, when approved, is expected to drive economic recovery and lay the foundation for longer term growth as well as improve the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy.

The minister stated that jobs and social inclusion were also key focused areas of the plan.

He gave the immediate execution priorities of the plans as: agriculture and food security, energy-particularly power and petroleum product sufficiency, industrialisation- focusing on small and medium size enterprising, transportation which is very, very important as an infrastructure requirement to get the economy really moving, and stabilisation of the micro-economy environment.

The minister also said the council spent a lot of time looking at implementation.

Udoma said that one of the means of ensuring implementation was to have a delivery unit which he said would be in the presidency.

He gave the key principles of the plan as: Tackling constraints to growth, leveraging the power of the private sector. This is very important. This is why we have been having extensive consultations and discussions with the private sector, promoting national cohesion and social inclusion, allowing market to function, approving the core value for which this country stands.

Udoma, however, insisted that the plan was still being fine-tunined.

Also yesterday, FEC approved N126 billion for the construction of twelve roads mostly in the northern part of the country.

Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who announced the approval for the roads said the projects are located in Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Adamawa, Kwara, Gombe, Adamawa, Enugu States.

Fashola said awarding the contacts would help to reflate the economy.

He said: “The headline figures are in the region of N126 billion but I think that Is not the story, the story really is what the award of those contracts will do to the economy. It will restore confidence to the construction industry.”

Source: https://asokoinsight.com/news/nigeria-yet-to-decide-how-much-to-borrow-f...

By Antony Kiganda | Construction Review Online

GE Transport and Transnet, South African-based freight logistics chain have gotten into a partnership to digitise African transport.

The move will enable a flawless link of shippers and transport operators in streamlining pricing and capacity on the network, shipment planning, fuel costs savings and distribute goods to the market more efficiently.

GE Global Chairman and CEO, Jeff Immelt said: “The digital joint venture we’re getting in with Transnet will not only advance Africa’s transport sector, but release huge opportunities for the supply chain stimulating Africa’s economy.”

Siyabonga Gama, Transnet’s Group Chief Executive said: “Disruptive innovation has become the new catchphrase for good reason. Innovation generates new markets and basically changes the way we live and work. The joint venture with GE Transport is enabling us to form a new industry and build up new skills that have the possibility to change the world as we know it.”

As a worldwide digital industrial leader and dealer of equipment, services and solutions to the rail, mining, marine, power and drilling industries, GE Transport will help Transnet to deliver goods and services with better speed and efficiency through the provision of necessary data required through Predix – GE’s cloud-based operating system for the Industrial Internet of Things.

The timing of this scheme falls in line with the vigorous growth taking place across Africa. Since 1995, Africa’s trade has almost doubled, placing huge logistical pressure on present transport infrastructure.

As it stands, managing the diverse transport routes and developing new infrastructure is difficult. GE’s innovative solution will bring simplicity to payment processes, goods management, customs inspections and lessen the trouble of a paper-based environment.

GE is encouraging development across the sectors of aviation, healthcare, transport and power as sectors that are increasingly being occupied by software companies, technology companies and industrial companies. “This joint venture is GE’s chance to take the new technology that we will develop in South Africa and launch it to the rest of Africa,” said Immelt.

Digitalization in Africa is necessary to driving growth on the continent. It plays a major role in motivating inter-Africa trade. This isn’t the first time GE and Transnet have partnered.

The two bodies have partnered since 2009 to produce and distribute more than 230 Evolution Series diesel electric locomotives, such as the “most African” locomotive, which attributed 55% locally produced content.

The move by GE to digitise African transport comes at a time when experts says transport in Africa is disorganized and poorly managed.

Source: https://asokoinsight.com/news/ge-partners-with-transnet-to-digitise-afri...

By Staff Writer | ESI Africa

In a recent report, there appears to be uncertainty around whether South Africa’s gas market, and the regional gas boom, will replace mining as the region’s new money-spinner.

Leading energy and gas experts, including Karen Breytenbach from the Department of Energy’s IPP Office, Dr Garth Strachan from the South African Department of Trade & Industry and Head of the Gas Industrialisation Unit, and John Smelcer, Oil & Gas Partner at Webber Wentzel, are expected to address the industry next week in Johannesburg.

The experts will be examining what the future holds for South Africa’s gas industry and what economic growth prospects this sector can provide to business, the press statement said.

Africa Set to Become Top Gas Market

According to the news release, Africa is set to become a leading gas market and has the potential to become a significant market for the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with many African countries exploring the natural gas potential.

According to a report by PwC: “Africa is the last true oil and gas frontier with more than 4,200 oil and gas blocks identified.

“The continent has proven natural gas reserves of 513 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) with 91% of the annual natural gas production of 7.1Tcf coming from Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt.”

The report added: “Almost half of Africa’s gas blocks are open, subject to force majeure or in the application phase. More than 80% of the 1,300 blocks in North Africa are licensed, while in sub-Saharan Africa it is estimated that only about 30% of 2,900 blocks are licensed.

“In the sub-Saharan regions it is evident that many new opportunities still exist, especially for exploration and production (E&P) companies that are willing to take risks.”

According to Smelcer: “We are on the cusp of a new industry – but significant challenges remain to lift-off.

“Strategic engagement by all key stakeholders will be required to get over the last hurdles.”

The potential is evident, but today’s leading oil and gas executives in Africa will need to stay on top of emerging challenges and opportunities to remain competitive in the nascent industry.

Source: https://asokoinsight.com/news/africa-set-to-become-top-gas-market-says-e...

By Staff Writer | Africa Global Funds

Outlierz, a Moroccan based investment firm, has launched a new seed fund dedicated to provide smart capital to startups in Africa.

The firm eyes tremendous opportunities at the intersection of Technology, Entrepreneurship and African economies. Outlierz said that there is talent, but not enough money and appropriate resources to grow scalable startups from emerging ecosystems.

The fund will invest $20-50K in “past-idea stage startups with a viable prototype and a dream team”.

In addition, it will look at $50-200K as follow-on investment or participate in Seed round / Series A of growing companies with traction and revenue.

Kenza Lahlou, Founder and MD of Outlierz, said: “We started from a simple yet striking conclusion: too many startups fail at the pre-seed and seed stages because of a lack of appropriate resources. We intend to change that by providing smart capital to the continent’s most promising companies.”

In addition to providing capital, the fund will provide hands-on advice, resources and access to its global network of world-class mentors and investors.

Outlierz stated that its goal is to take startups “to the next round of funding”.

“The target outcome will be a stronger pool of high potential startups that are ready for subsequent investment and, in the end, lead to success stories that are uniquely African,” Lahlou said.

Outlierz is backed by entrepreneurs and angel investors, including CEO of YCombinator, Michael Seibel, 500startups MENA partner, Hassan Haider, as well as tech entrepreneurs from Africa and Morocco.

Source: https://asokoinsight.com/news/outlierz-launches-seed-fund-for-african-st...

By Samson Berhane | Addis Fortune

The nation’s private banks have achieved remarkable results during the first half year of the current fiscal year, despite a popular perception that the economy has been sluggish due to political instability and forex crunch.

Last year was challenging for the economy as the country was hit by a severe drought, which left over 10 million people in need of emergency assistance, and the registered economic growth was the lowest in a decade.

All the16 private banks, in their semi-annual performance, have reported robust growth in deposits, loans and gross profits.

Their total deposit skyrocketed to a little over 170 billion Br, showing a staggering 30pc increase compared to the same period last year. This amount has taken industry observers by surprise for what private banks mobilized in half year surpassed the total deposits they had collected the whole of the previous year.

“This is surprising considering the political instability, severe drought and economic slowdown of last year,” remarked Abdulmenan Mohammed Hamza, a financial analyst.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the unrest in Oromia and Amhara regional states has reached its peak, where hundreds of millions of worth of investments were ransacked, vandalized and turned to ashes.

Some banks, such as Oromia International Bank (OIB), have reported that the unrest adversely affected their capability to reach their customers. OIB has 40pc of its branches located in Oromia Regional State.

“The unrest adversely affected the Bank’s ability to collect remittances,” an executive who works at OIB told Fortune a month ago. “The problem even continued into the first quarter of the current fiscal year, when the unrest reached at its peak.”

The unrest in Oromia also affected the Bank’s performance in advancing loans, according to this executive.

“It affected the bank’s capability to move liquid resources from most branches to least liquidated one,” he said.

Abdulmenan relates massive growth in deposits to unprecedented expansion in branches by private banks.

In the first half of the current fiscal year, Ethiopia’s private banks opened 305 branches, raising their total network to 2,355. Accordingly, one bank branch serves around 33,448 people in the country, lower by half from the ratio five years ago.

Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO) is also the highest performer in this stance, opening 62 branches in just half year period while Zemen, which advocates consumer segmentation, is with no branches opened during this period. Yet, a directive from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) compel banks to increase their branch network by 25pc every year.

In the first half year of the fiscal year, the CBO turned out to be the bank with the highest growth in deposits. It has reported a 35pc growth to 11.4 billion Br in deposit since June 30, 2016. This represents close to seven percent of the industry’s total. As more deposit indicates more income, this could be a trend in reversal for a Bank which was hit by an eight-fold decline in its profit last year, due to an increase in the demand for letters of credit.

The growth in deposits is even higher than last year’s growth of 14pc.

OIB too has reported a 32.4pc growth in its deposit of 9.3 billion Br, which is higher than the industry’s average rate of growth.

“We’ve worked aggressively in our marketing campaign,” a communications officer for the OIB told Fortune.

But the three largest performers in deposits are Awash, Dashen and Abyssinia banks. Nonetheless, industry analysis shows that higher deposit growth in one year is accompanied by lower growth in the next. The average growth rate in deposits was 24pc over the past five years.

Some bankers believe growth in aggregate deposit may not necessarily translate to real growth.

“We’ve to see details to understand whether there is growth,” says a banker. “It might be due to the slowdown of economic activities.”

Another banking veteran, who used to work at the central bank, agree. But in part.

“If the growth in deposits is due to an improvement in savings, that is a positive thing,” he told Fortune. “However, if it was as a result of time deposit, it means that the money is not mobilized which implies there is a slowdown in investments. We should know the source of the deposits.”

The growth in deposits hugely varies across banks. The rate registered by big banks such as Awash and Dashen is lower than of the average rate registered by either medium banks or small banks.

On the other hand, the most efficient income earner in 2015, Lion International Bank, and Bunna Bank have reported the lowest nine percent of growth rate among all banks.

“The political unrest in some parts of the country in July and August, 2016 has affected our deposit mobilization,” said Hailay Haftu, director for Business Development & Corporate Planning Department at Lion Bank.

“We lost between 30 million Br to 55 million Br from our deposit,” he disclosed to Fortune.

Andualem Alem, a director at Awash Bank with a decade of experience, believes the problem has little to do with an economic slowdown as the majority of the population is unbanked.

“It’s not easy to mobilise deposit in countries such as Ethiopia,” he said. “Banks invest too much in order to get depositors.”

A senior executive at Bunna attributed the slow deposit growth to accumulated debt of the Bank.

“We paid a significant amount of money,” he said. “This has affected our profit growth.”

These are banks which have seen their profits dropped from the same period last year. Lion saw a profit decline by one million Birr to 188 million Br in the first six months of the current fiscal year, due to a slow growth in exports. Earnings from exports have declined by 49 million Br to a billion Birr.

As observed in Lion, Bunna also saw a decline in profit by 35pc in the half year period of the current fiscal year compared with the same period last year. The Bank has earned a gross profit of 92 million in just a half year period.

The gross profit of the industry has gone up by 14.6pc to 3.35 billion Br. This is much higher than last year’s growth rate of 8.6pc, perhaps driven mainly by increased loan disbursements.

The total loans and advances have increased by 25pc to 116.17 billion Br for the six months ended December 31, 2016. The industry has reported a growth rate of 32pc compared with a similar period last year, which is higher than last year’s annual growth rate of 23pc. This must have been driven by increased deposits mobilization and liquidity, a rise from net investments in five-year bonds issued by the central bank, which was due for redemption since the last quarter of 2015/16.

The directive compels banks to invest 27pc of their gross loans and advances in government bonds, which has caused a liquidity crises in some of the banks.

The Bank of Abyssinia has reported the highest rate in growth of 36pc, advancing close to 11.1 billion Br during the half year, whereas as the loan book at Zemen has shrunk by four percent, to 3.2 billion Br. However, Awash leads its peers advancing loans of 20 billion Br, followed by Dashen Bank 16.3 billion Br.

The loan to deposit ratio of the industry has increased to 68pc from 67pc over the past year, which indicates banks are earning as much from deposits. It was 64pc on June 2016.

This phenomenon has been observed across a number of banks, something industry insiders attribute to the seasonality of loan disbursements and recovery.

Awash has the highest loan to deposit ratio of 77pc, whereas Zemen has the lowest at 54pc.

“We’ve disbursed the collected deposit to earn more income,” said Andualem, the communications director of Awash. “This is one of our main priority in our five-year strategy launched last year.”

Even though loan to deposit ratio of the industry has shown a modest growth Abdulmenan thinks there is still some room for improvement.

With a gross profit of 22 million Br in just half a year, Zemen leads all the banks with a growth of 57pc, compared with the same period last year.

The two big private banks, Awash and Dashen, have reported gross profits of more than half a billion Birr each, representing 15pc of the industry.

Banking experts agree that the profit performance is pretty remarkable.

Rolake Akinkugbe , Head of Energy at FBN Merchant Bank (Lagos, Nigeria) does the morning global newspaper review on BBC with Sally Bundock and Adnan Nawaz on Trump & the Media, Sino-Russian LNG 

See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBEeUyQzzyc&t=81s

 

By Staff | Joy Online (Ghana)

Bharti Airtel, the mother company of Airtel Ghana has announced that it will be closing shop across 15 African countries by the end of 2017.

The affected countries include Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Chad, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

BloombergQuint, the India-focused subsidiary of Bloomberg, quotes Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal as saying “the moves would pare the size of operations on the continent and could be completed within a year…some of Bharti’s businesses in 14 African nations would be affected.”

This confirms earlier rumours that Airtel and Tigo will merge in Ghana this year and will be taken over by a French telecom giant, Orange.

A further confirmation was a hint by some local telecom executives who told this writer they have been approached by Orange with a job offer in Ghana, while some Airtel and Tigo vendors close to talks on the possible merger have also confirmed they have been approached to start preparing for the change.

Airtel Ghana has declined to comment on the plan to exit the country.

A Tigo Ghana executive also confirmed in a conversation with some industry stakeholders that “the merger will happen”.

Two years ago, when Airtel began talks to sell off its operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone to Orange, the company had stated that it wouldn’t be exiting Africa.

But mobilityarena.com, a telecoms industry online portal, reports the sale of the 14 operations in Africa has become necessary because Bharti Airtel is faced with poor performance across those markets and that is shoring up its debt portfolio.

Bharti’s African unit, for instance, lost $91 million in the quarter ended September 2016, compared with a $170 million loss same period in the previous year.

The Indian global telecoms giant is, therefore, looking for ways to pare net debt equivalent to about $12 billion by September this year.

In Ghana, Airtel recently instituted charges for services it used to offer for free and made a failed attempt to take more money from its value-added service partners, and the VAS folk suspended services in protest to an 80-20 percent revenue share arrange in favour of Airtel.

Indeed, since MTN went 4G in Ghana last year, there have been moves by Tigo and Vodafone to join, but Airtel, which is part of the top four telcos in Ghana, is pretty much silent about 4G LTE.

In Nigeria, Airtel is the only one of the big four mobile operators that are yet to launch a 4G LTE network.

Back in Airtel’s home country, India, Reliance Jio is reported giving Airtel a big run for their money in a fierce price war that is reportedly depleting their gains.

As part of moves to reduce its debts, Bharti is also considering selling it 73.5 per cent stake in its tower unit, Bharti Infratel Ltd., but a decision is yet to be taken whether to sell minority or controlling shares.

In Ghana, Airtel is the fourth biggest operator out of six operators. Its subscriber base stands at 4.68 million, representing a market share of 12.54 per cent. It data subscriptions is a little over three million, representing some 15.71 per cent market share.

Airtel Ghana market value is estimated at some US$200 million.

Source: https://asokoinsight.com/news/airtel-to-exit-ghana-this-year

By James Anyanzwa | Business Daily, Kenya

Commercial Bank of Africa is set to on-lend small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country Sh9 billion ($90 million) advanced by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The package will include Sh5 billion ($50 million) line of credit and Sh4 billion ($40 million) trade finance line, the continental multilateral development lender said.

AfDB said the funding will be channelled to SMEs and local corporates in infrastructure, trade and other transformative sectors in the country.

“It will provide liquidity support to expand financing to local corporates involved in value-addition in the trading, manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure, transport and construction,” AfDB said.

Financial Package

CBA is the sixth largest of 43 banks in Kenya and has 19 million mobile platform customers.

AfDB said the financial package will contribute to CBA’s efforts to broaden access to its services, thereby reducing financing constraints by SMEs and local corporates while narrowing Africa’s trade financing gap.

“The package will promote private sector development as well as support broad-based economic growth,” said the African lender.

“It will also contribute to CBA’s endeavours to complement efforts of various partners such as the government’s long term development strategic agenda and Vision 2030, which seeks to revitalise the economy by developing infrastructure and improving access to affordable credit for SMEs that support economic transformation,” said the development finance institution.

Source: https://asokoinsight.com/news/commercial-bank-of-africa-plans-on-lending...

By Staff Writer | Africa Global Funds

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), a division of FirstRand Bank, has listed a new product on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), which will enable companies and individuals to hold unlimited quantities of cash in US dollars.

US Dollar Custodial Certificates (DCCs), listed on the Exchange Traded Funds sector of the JSE on January 24, are easily tradable, dollar-denominated investment instruments that have no exchange control implications.

RMB, which created, issued and listed the instruments, will act as the market maker providing liquidity in the product.

RMB said that investors earn the return of a US Treasury note, receiving an income stream in US dollars, which is settled in Rands.

DCCs represent the first inward listing of US Treasury notes on the JSE giving investors direct exposure to the Treasury notes.

Investors’ credit exposure will be to the US Federal Reserve, giving them protection from the possible insolvency of a bank.

Ebrahim Patel, RMB’s Alternative AssetSpecialist, said: “Investors are able to invest in a global currency, therefore avoiding the potential devaluation of their rand savings and working capital.”

“DCCs will therefore benefit investors who take the view that investing in dollars may preserve their assets, while businesses can take advantage of a dollarized working capital solution,” he added.

Source: https://asokoinsight.com/news/rand-merchant-bank-lists-us-dollar-custodi...