TOP NEWS IN EUROPEAN FINANCIALS
* Shares in Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG tumbled at least 8% yesterday following the sale by a single investor of stakes of around 5% each in the German lenders for combined proceeds of up to €1.75 billion, news outlets including The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News reported. The investor was U.S. investment firm Capital Group Cos. Inc., sources told the Journal. The disposal came roughly three months after Cerberus Capital Management LP trimmed its stakes in Deutsche and Commerzbank. Both banks are sticking with their new strategies, their respective spokespersons told Bloomberg.
* Banco BPM SpA will fully acquire Italian insurance company Bipiemme Vita SpA by purchasing the 81% stake held by Covéa Coopération SA for approximately €310 million. The lender, which already holds 19% in Bipiemme Vita, is expected to receive an extraordinary dividend of €120 million at closing. The acquisition is part of Banco BPM's agreement with the Covéa Group and the lender's 2021-2024 strategy, which sees the inclusion of the insurance business by 2023-end.
➤ Hong Kong bankers high in demand as city fights to keep finance hub status
Banks in Hong Kong face an acute talent shortage as the city continues to impose some of the strictest travel restrictions in the world currently to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
➤ US banks post solid loan growth in Q1'22 as uncertainties build
Investors will be watching earnings reports closely for signals about whether macroeconomic concerns and shocks like the war in Ukraine are impacting loan demand.
READ MORE about the market reaction and industry impact of the evolving situation in Russia and Ukraine in our new Issue in Focus.
BANKING
* Members of Russia's State Duma submitted a bill under which Russia's development bank, State Development Corp. VEB.RF, or other entities appointed by authorities or courts could act as external administrators of Russian businesses owned by foreign companies that leave Russia due to its conflict with Ukraine, Reuters reported. The external administration could be introduced at companies having a key role for Russia's infrastructure and supply chains, and the exiting owners would have the option to resume their operations in Russia or sell their business within three months, the news wire said, citing the bill.
* Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called on the EU to introduce an embargo on Russian oil, set deadlines for ending imports of Russian gas and sanction all Russian banks, Reuters reported. The EU earlier imposed sanctions against several large Russian banks amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, cutting them off from the Swift financial messaging system and introducing a full ban on transactions with those lenders.
* Banks in the eurozone intend to impose in the second quarter stricter guidelines and criteria for approving corporate loans amid the uncertainty surrounding the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the ECB's latest bank lending survey released yesterday. A slight tightening of credit standards for housing loans and consumer credit is also expected.
* Proxy advisers Glass Lewis and ISS urged shareholders of Credit Suisse Group AG to vote against absolving the Switzerland-based bank's board and executives of legal liability for the events in 2020 that led up to the collapse of U.S. family office Archegos Capital, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Glass Lewis and ISS recommended that investors reject a proposal by another proxy adviser, Ethos, for a special audit into Credit Suisse's dealings with collapsed U.K. specialty lender Greensill Capital (UK) Ltd.
* Credit Suisse Group has created a new committee to look into the Switzerland-based bank's participation in mergers of U.S. special purpose acquisition companies in light of proposed tighter regulations for the sector there, a source told Bloomberg. Any SPAC transaction should reportedly be approved by both the new "tactical deSPAC committee" and the investment banking committee. A Credit Suisse spokesman declined to comment to Bloomberg.
* U.S.-based Goldman Sachs has become the largest significant shareholder in Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA with a 5.95% stake in the entity's share capital, Expansión wrote. It is ahead of other significant shareholders such as BlackRock, which has a 5.917% stake, and the CQG Partners fund, with a 3.09% stake.
* Commerzbank Polish unit mBank SA said the costs of legal risk related to its Swiss Franc mortgage loan portfolio reached 192.7 million zlotys in the first quarter, but it still expects to report a consolidated net profit for the period.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
* German fund management company Universal-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH is acquiring investment fund specialist European Fund Administration SA in Luxembourg, increasing its total AUM by €167 billion to more than €900 billion.
* Swiss real estate financial services firm Avobis Invest AG is taking over mortgage management company Kreditfabrik AG, increasing its mortgage management volume to over CHF12 billion.
* Italian asset manager Azimut Holding SpA agreed to purchase a minority stake in U.S. private equity group Broadlight Holdings, MF said.
* Czech investment company Wood & Co postponed the launch of its first SPAC by approximately one month due to uncertainty caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Hospodarske Noviny reported.
POLICY AND REGULATION
* Poland's government, Financial Supervision Authority and the central bank are working on various solutions to help retail borrowers amid growing interest rates, including a simplified access to the country's Borrowers Support Fund that offers financial assistance to vulnerable mortgage holders, news agency PAP said, citing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Sheryl Obejera, Daniel Stephens, Meike Wijers, Esben Svendsen, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Stéphanie Salti, Sophie Davies and Nelson Siqueira contributed to this report.
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