TOP NEWS IN EUROPEAN FINANCIALS
* British bank Barclays PLC's third-quarter attributable group profit more than doubled year over year to £1.45 billion from £611 million on the back of a strong performance from its corporate and investment bank division.
* Nordea Bank Abp posted a third-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of €1.00 billion, a 20% increase from the year-ago €837 million. CEO Frank Vang-Jensen said the Finland-based bank is preparing to announce a new business plan and financial targets along with its fourth-quarter results. Nordea is also launching a new share repurchase program of up to €2 billion, beginning Oct. 22 at the earliest, under which the lender will buy back up to 500 million shares, equivalent to a roughly 12.35% stake.
* Lloyds Banking Group PLC will shutter another 48 branches as the U.K. lender seeks to cut costs by scaling down its branch network, Reuters reported. The move, which affects 41 Lloyds Bank branches and seven Halifax branches, was criticized by labor union Unite as it could lead to 178 job losses, City A.M. noted.
➤ Amid divestment plans, Handelsbanken has high hopes for UK operations
The Swedish lender has gone through a "very tough change program in the U.K." as it adapted to Brexit but now considers it a market with considerable growth potential.
➤ Swedish bank SEB to bulk up advisory business
The Sweden-based bank will invest in advisory as it expands its corporate and investment bank, according to its CEO.
➤ Europe retains leading role in green finance, but other centers gaining – Z/Yen
London is the top location for green financing, according to Z/Yen Group's Global Green Finance Index. But European centers will need to ensure regulations are robust as other cities gain ground.
EARNINGS SPOTLIGHT
* Swedbank AB (publ)'s third-quarter profit attributable to shareholders rose 5% to 5.50 billion Swedish kronor from the year-ago 5.26 billion kronor as credit impairments fell to 18 million kronor from 425 million kronor.
* DNB Bank ASA reported what it said was its best third-quarter ever after its profit attributable to shareholders jumped year over year to 6.66 billion Norwegian kroner from 5.29 billion kroner. The bank declared a 2020 dividend of 9 kroner per share to be paid Nov. 5.
* Spain-based Bankinter SA's third-quarter group net income slipped to €110.4 million from €110.9 million a year before.
BANKING
* U.K.-based Standard Chartered PLC is among the interested parties that could take over the Asian consumer banking business of U.S. bank Citigroup Inc., sources told Bloomberg News.
* Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission will conduct a full phase 2 investigation into Bank of Ireland Group PLC's proposed acquisition of certain assets and liabilities of KBC Bank Ireland PLC. The proposed deal involves KBC's mortgage-focused €9 billion performing loan book, according to The Irish Times.
* London's Court of Appeal ruled that holders of subordinated bonds issued by the European units of the now-defunct Lehman Brothers, including Germany's Deutsche Bank AG, must be paid before other claims are satisfied, Bloomberg reported.
* U.K. lawmakers are seeking answers from the Financial Conduct Authority over why it took five years to prosecute NatWest Group PLC for its failure to stop the laundering of almost £400 million, to which the bank pleaded guilty, Reuters reported. The bank could be fined roughly £340 million.
* An investigation by the Swedish financial regulator found deficiencies in Danske Bank A/S' controls against money laundering and terrorist financing. The Finansinspektionen said that while the Denmark-based lender has rectified some of the shortfalls, it has been slow to implement the measures so the regulator issued an injunction for it to take remedial action.
* Meanwhile, Danske Bank's Norwegian branch was informed of serious errors in debt recovery seven months before it informed relevant authorities, and eight months before customers were informed, Dagens Næringsliv reported. Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority has demanded a thorough statement from the bank.
* Italian lender UniCredit SpA has asked about 50 London traders to move to its headquarters in Milan and to decide on the matter by 2021-end, as part of its post-Brexit strategy, insiders told Bloomberg News. The bank is also reportedly considering relocating some of its traders in Munich to Milan.
* Intesa Sanpaolo SpA joined the Net Zero Banking Alliance. The Italy-based lender committed to reaching net-zero emissions from its operations and loan and investment portfolios by 2050. Local peer Banca Ifis SpA also joined the alliance, Il Messaggero wrote.
* Banco de Sabadell SA and its unions have signed a redundancy agreement that will mean the departure of a minimum of 1,380 employees at the Spanish bank, although the figure could rise to 1,605 employees depending on how many volunteer to take redundancy, Europa Press wrote, citing union sources.
* Russia's state corporation Rostec will take over a 50% stake plus 2 shares in JSCB Evrofinance-Mosnarbank Bank JSC from the country's Federal Agency for State Property Management, with the takeover approved by the government, Kommersant reported.
* Poland-based ING Bank Slaski SA will offer its clients an option to convert their Swiss franc mortgage loans into zlotys in line with the proposal of the country's Financial Supervision Authority.
* Jyske Bank A/S now expects a 2021 net profit of between 3 billion Danish kroner and 3.1 billion kroner, versus its previous guidance of between 2.6 billion kroner and 2.9 billion kroner, amid "a continued high level of activity in all business units," controlled costs and solid credit quality.
* Igor Kim, Russian investor and majority shareholder of Expobank LLC, is negotiating the potential sale of the lender's business in Europe, RBC reported. The bank plans to focus its efforts on Russia and is also eyeing Uzbekistan, the businessman was cited as saying.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Jens Weidmann intends to step down as president of the German central bank at year-end. Weidmann, a vocal critic of the ECB's ultra-loose monetary policy, is said to have grown tired of opposing the ECB's policies and expects disagreements to continue amid a recovering economy and rising inflation, according to the Financial Times. Handelsblatt also covered this.
* U.K. Chancellor Rishi Sunak's new budget plan will reduce the tax surcharge on banks' profits to 3% from 8% beginning April 2023 as the government seeks to have London continue to be a financial center post-Brexit, insiders told the FT.
Erin Tanchico, Daniel Stephens, Danielle Rossingh, Esben Svendsen, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Brian McCulloch, Sophie Davies and Nelson Siqueira contributed to this report.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
