Sector Spotlight: Global Financials is a weekly summary of exclusive banking, financial services and insurance industry news and analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
US and Canada
* Fintech M&A deal tracker: Push to bundle, create 'super app' drives transactions
Fintech firms racing to expand and bundle consumer financial technology offerings spurred M&A in 2021, and the momentum will continue into 2022.
* First Republic's 'priced for perfection' stock tested by co-CEO resignation
Shares in First Republic Bank, one of the industry's most expensive stocks, underperformed peers following the surprise resignation of Hafize Gaye Erkan.
Latin America
* LatAm economies see CDS spreads ebb in Q4
Despite a marked rise in sovereign credit default swap spreads in most of Latin America's major economies, some countries eked out marginal improvements in the last quarter.
* Pix breaks ground in Brazil, shakes up payments market
More than a year after its launch, the instant payments platform rolled out by Brazil's central bank has been used by nearly half of the country's population with an estimated 30,000 transactions processed per minute.
Europe, Middle East and Africa
* 3 sustainability trends for European bankers to watch in 2022
Climate stress testing and improving data around environmental risks will be among the areas of focus for European banks this year.
* UK banks: Key themes to watch for in 2022
U.K. banks head into 2022 with more interest rate rises expected, further impairment releases likely and solid mortgage growth.
* Poland's Bank Pekao claims title of best-performing European bank stock in 2021
The Polish lender bounced back from a difficult 2020 to register a share price return of more than 100% as of Dec. 28, 2021, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Asia-Pacific
* India sets sights on record green bond issuance entering 2022
India's green bond issuance is set to reach a new record in 2022, following an exceptionally strong 2021.
* Chinese banks face slower loan growth, squeezed margins, credit risk in 2022
Slowing loan growth, slimming margins and rising credit risk will weigh on Chinese banks entering into 2022.
* Several APAC insurers log market cap declines in Q4 amid uneven recovery
Of the 20 largest Asia-Pacific insurers, 14 saw declines in market capitalization in the fourth quarter of 2021, as new COVID-19 variants, elevated inflation and other downside risks continued to pose threats to an uneven economic recovery.
Global Insurance
* Top US auto insurers racing toward $40B in annual premiums
All of the largest three U.S. auto insurers have a chance to write $40 billion of annual premium for the calendar year 2022, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.
* Insurtech CEO says data, technology to evolve small business insurance in 2022
S&P Global Market Intelligence caught up with Coterie co-founder and CEO David McFarland to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on small business insurance and how the market might further develop in 2022.
