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Aviva FY'17 profit jumps YOY; EU rules out special treatment for UK

* The EU offered a narrower view of the future trading relationship with the U.K. than London had hoped, saying Britain would be treated like any other nonmember country with respect to financial services. Under the draft guidelines released, the European Commission will not allow any "cherry picking" or "partial participation" in the single market, and warned of "negative economic consequences" of leaving the customs union and the single market. The U.K. wants financial services to be included in a free-trade agreement.

* Meanwhile, U.K. Chancellor Philip Hammond said in a speech on Brexit that it is possible to include financial services within a trade deal with the EU and that it is in the "mutual interest" of both parties to do so. He added that mutual recognition and reciprocal regulatory equivalence could provide an effective basis for the country's future economic partnership with the bloc.

* The European Securities and Markets Authority yesterday published trading volumes and calculations regarding the double volume cap, which aims to limit the amount of equities trading conducted in so-called dark pools, under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. Based on the latest data, two caps will limit dark trading in equity and equity-like instruments. The Financial Times and Bloomberg News covered.

UK AND IRELAND

* Aviva Plc reported full-year 2017 profit attributable to equity holders of just under £1.50 billion, up from £703 million earned in 2016. Gross written premiums rose on a yearly basis to £27.61 billion from £25.44 billion. CEO Mark Wilson said the company expects to deploy £2 billion in surplus capital, of which more than £500 million will be in capital returns to shareholders and roughly £600 million will be used for making bolt-on acquisitions.

* Standard Chartered Plc CFO Andy Halford said the U.K.-based lender has begun interviews for roughly 20 banking positions that it plans to move to Frankfurt as a result of Britain's exit from the EU, Reuters wrote. Halford also said that StanChart has reached a provisional agreement with private equity firm Actis over the sale of the bank's real estate investment unit.

* U.K. digital lender Atom Bank Plc has raised £149 million in its latest fundraising round, which includes further capital injections by Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and U.K.-based Toscafund Asset Management LLP.

* Bank of Ireland Group Plc said it raised €750 million from the sale of mortgage-backed securities, The Irish Times wrote.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* National-conservative politicians in Switzerland urged the parliament to strip Swiss financial supervisory authority Finma of its sole right to supervise and regulate the financial market and divide supervisory and regulation into two separate bodies, Tages-Anzeiger noted.

* Swiss authorities froze all bank accounts of former Raiffeisen Gruppe Switzerland CEO and former Helvetia Holding AG Chairman Pierin Vincenz and his family amid investigations into alleged corporate fraud, Inside Paradeplatz reported.

* Meanwhile, Johannes Rüegg-Stürm, president of Raiffeisen Gruppe Switzerland's executive board, is set to step down from his post in the wake of the scandal surrounding Vincenz, Tages-Anzeiger noted.

* Canopius AG unit Canopius Managing Agents Ltd. named Mike Duffy CEO, effective immediately, in addition to his current role as group chief underwriting officer. Deputy Chief Underwriting Officer Sarah Willmon will become the unit's chief underwriting officer.

* Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG said it expects lower profit before taxes in 2018 of between €150 million and €170 million, as compared to €204 million in 2017, mainly owing to lower net interest and commission income.

* Julius Bär Gruppe AG established a joint venture with Siam Commercial Bank PCL to enter the wealth management market in Thailand.

* Germany's banking supervisory authority Bafin banned Oyak Anker Bank GmbH from granting corporate loans because the bank does not have a second CEO to meet the dual control requirement, Börsen-Zeitung reported.

FRANCE AND BENELUX

* Euroclear is going to transfer its head office from London to Brussels, L'Echo reported. According to Euroclear CEO Lieve Mostrey, the move will enable the company to work in a safer environment. The move will not generate additional jobs in Brussels.

* French bank Natixis said Natixis Asset Management, an affiliate of unit Natixis Investment Managers, will be renamed Ostrum Asset Management, effective April 3. Matthieu Duncan will become CEO of the rebranded company as of the same date.

* Meanwhile, Natixis will invest into Clipperton, a French M&A boutique specialized in technology companies, Les Echos reported.

* ABN AMRO Group NV is set to invest heavily in German fintech firm solarisBank AG, Het Financieele Dagblad reported.

* Vivat NV CEO Ron van Oijen said the Dutch insurer remains interested in acquisitions that would be value accretive for the company, Reuters reported.

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

* Roman Escolano, the vice president of the European Investment Bank, will take office as Spain's economy minister March 9, the Spanish government said. Escolano replaces Luis de Guindos, who is set to become the new ECB vice president, with the ECB Governing Council saying it has no objections to de Guindos' appointment to the post.

* Bankia SA chose Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance as its partner for the creation of a joint consumer credit business in Spain. The Crédit Agricole SA unit was chosen over a total of five entities in a tender process launched by the Spanish nationalized lender.

* Asset management companies suing Portugal's central bank over losses incurred on €2.2 billion of senior bonds transferred to failed Banco Espírito Santo SA's bad bank have called on Governor Carlos Costa to address parliament, Expresso and Público reported. The companies said a hearing was needed to "make clear the true extent of the damages caused by the decision."

ITALY AND GREECE

* Credito Emiliano SpA aims to increase loans by a further €500 million in 2018, Director General Nazzareno Gregori told Il Sole 24 Ore, adding that the lender is open to acquisitions and that Banco di Desio e della Brianza SpA would be a good fit, even though nothing is on the table. The bank, meanwhile, plans to hire 250 people by year-end, MF added.

* Mediobanca SpA finalized the purchase of 69% of Ram Active Investments, a Swiss alternative investment manager, MF wrote.

* Raffaele Mincione, the third-largest shareholder of Banca Carige SpA who saw his request for a seat on the board rejected earlier this week, will ask for an extraordinary shareholders' meeting that will probably take place in April to annul the board, Il Messaggero wrote.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Danish Trade Minister Brian Mikkelsen confirmed that Denmark's Financial Services Authority is conducting a formal investigation into Danske Bank A/S over recent revelations of alleged money laundering at its Estonian subsidiary, FinansWatch reported. The regulator may look at internal bank warnings made by whistleblowers in 2013 that Danske Bank Estonia was in breach of established bank rules and codes of conduct pertaining to suspected money laundering transactions, Berlingske Tidende noted.

* The Swedish government is concerned that Nordea Bank AB (publ)'s plan to relocate its corporate headquarters to Helsinki, Finland, in the second half could lead to a weaker price development for the bank's shares, Dagens Industri wrote. The bank's shareholders are due to vote on the plan at the company's March 15 annual general meeting.

* A large number of bank branches in Sweden have gone cashless but the country's biggest banks said that the industry still offers cash, and will continue to do so, adding that the Swedish central bank's fears that the country may run out of cash are overstated, Bloomberg News wrote.

* Norway-based bank SpareBank 1 Telemark said that its board of directors decided to explore a potential IPO and is expected to decide on an application for listing on Oslo Børs in the second half depending on market conditions.

* Martin Backman stepped down as CEO of Finnish lender Aktia Pankki Oyj, effective immediately, following a mutual agreement with the bank's board.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Poland's central bank maintained its key rates, saying that their current level could sustain the Polish economic growth and maintain macroeconomic stability.

* Turkey's central bank also maintained its policy rates, saying economic activity remained robust and inflation continued to be persistently high.

* The Russian central bank decided to introduce higher risk ratios for consumer loans with high interest rates, Kommersant wrote. The new ratios will apply to loans issued after May 1.

* Bonum Capital, a fund linked to Russian businessman Suleiman Kerimov, agreed in principle to acquire the shares of Vozrozhdenie Bank and is now conducting due diligence of the lender, Vedomosti reported.

* Komercijalna Banka a.d. Beograd, Serbia's second-biggest lender by assets, intends to reduce its nonperforming loan ratio to between 8% and 9% by 2018-end from the level of 13.8% at 2017-end, SEENews reported.

* Some Latvian lenders, focusing on providing services to foreign clients, could merge or be liquidated if their business model turns out to be unfeasible, Peters Putnins, the head of the Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission, told Reuters.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: Japan to punish cryptocurrency exchanges; State Bank of India penalized

Middle East & Africa: Ghana's ADB, uniBank deny takeover; Saudi prince seeks end to bank tax dispute

Latin America: Brazil court denies Lula plea to stay out of jail; Sul América names new VP

North America: Wells Fargo unit suing LJM Partners; RCB Holding buying Kansas' Central B&T

North America Insurance: UnitedHealth eyeing Envision unit; Trump wants concessions to back ACA fix plan

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Sheryl Obejera, Ed Meza, Meike Wijers, Gerard O'Dwyer, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Stephanie Salti, Praxilla Trabattoni and Helen Popper contributed to this report.

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