* Britain unveiled its latest Brexit offer to the European Commission proposing to replace the controversial Irish backstop solution with a new protocol that would keep Northern Ireland in the European single market for goods. EC President Jean-Claude Juncker acknowledged receipt of the letter, but noted that "some problematic points" remain that will need additional work in the "coming days." Meanwhile, Michael Gove, the U.K. minister in charge of no-deal preparations, said Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new Brexit plan has received enough support from other parties and would be approved by the British Parliament, Reuters reported.
* Finalizing the EU's capital markets union project would give critical impetus to the European securitization market, helping to fund sustainable projects and usher in more consolidation in the bloc's financial sector, according to Christian Ossig, CEO of the Association of German Banks.
* Meanwhile, EU finance ministers are considering the establishment of a single bloc-wide supervisor on money laundering during an Oct. 10 meeting amid an increase in the number of banking scandals and a rise in digital currency use, Reuters reported.
* A former London-based currency trader at Citigroup Inc., Rohan Ramchandani, has filed a $112 million lawsuit against the U.S. bank in New York for alleged malicious prosecution, the Financial Times reported. Ramchandani was accused of conspiring to manipulate prices in the global foreign exchange market, but was cleared of the charges in October 2018.
UK AND IRELAND
* Metro Bank PLC's shares closed 26.67% higher yesterday as it increased the issuance of its high-yield bonds owing to the large size of the order book. The bank said its £350 million high-yield bond sale was oversubscribed at £550 million. It also came after the bank said that Chairman Vernon Hill will leave at year-end.
* MS Amlin PLC is considering selling its aviation book, which consists of about $100 million in premiums, Insurance Insider reported.
* A U.K. judge ordered local broker Marex Spectron to pay $32 million to French investment bank Natixis SA, which sued the company in 2017 over fraudulent receipts that were part of a repurchase agreement, according to Reuters.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* A former trader serving as a witness in the German cum-ex tax fraud scandal claimed that Bank of America Merrill Lynch was one of the lenders that allegedly received profit portions from clients' trades and concealed the money as services fees, such as charges for custody, clearing and leverage, Bloomberg News reported.
* After surviving a spying scandal, Credit Suisse Group AG CEO Tidjane Thiam has moved into damage control with a memo to bank employees, Bloomberg wrote. The events are "deeply regrettable," Thiam wrote. "The surveillance of [former wealth management head] Iqbal Khan was strictly an isolated event and full accountability has been taken by the individuals concerned," he added, noting that the company's board moved swiftly to address difficult questions raised about culture and ethical standards.
* Hamburg Commercial Bank AG, the privatized successor of former state-owned HSH Nordbank, may be facing additional downsizing, Handelsblatt reported. Expressing concern about Germany's economy in a speech in Frankfurt, CEO Stefan Ermisch said it is a logical next step to consider further measures, as the bank was expecting the economy to improve when it announced that it would cut the number of its employees by half. The bank is expected to reduce its workforce to around 950 by 2022 from 1,716 at 2018-end.
* Julius Bär Gruppe AG is reducing the members of its executive leadership team to nine from 15, effective Jan. 1, 2020, as part of the Swiss financial group's initiative to simplify its organizational structure.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Société Générale SA CEO Frédéric Oudéa, who also serves as the new head of the Féderation Bancaire Française banking trade group, shrugged off warnings from regulators over France's property market being dangerous for banks, and told Les Echos he saw no signs of overheating. He also said changes in regulatory structure were needed for Europe's banks to consolidate and that the new European Commission could make these changes in 2020. Oudéa predicted that post-Brexit, the U.K. will follow the U.S. and impose rules on liquidity and capital on foreign banks, and that it was necessary for the EU to be ready to respond.
* ABN Amro Bank NV may be fined as much as €450 million by the Dutch public prosecutor for potential money laundering and terrorism financing, De Telegraaf reported, citing a Jefferies report. The Dutch lender shocked investors last week when it announced it was under investigation for possible breaches of regulations against money laundering and terrorism financing.
* The Court of Appeal in The Hague has opened the door to a possible criminal prosecution of ING Groep NV CEO Ralph Hamers after the Dutch lender was fined €775 million by the country's public prosecutor last year for failing to spot money laundering practices in its accounts, Het Financieele Dagblad reported. In a closed session on Monday, the Court of Appeal said it would look into a complaint by Dutch financial activist Pieter Lakeman and his foundation, SOBI, stating Hamers should have been personally prosecuted for his role in the scandal.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* The ECB may deny access to documents related to the resolution of Portugal's Banco Espírito Santo SA, Jornal de Negócios reported, citing an opinion by the attorney general at the European Court of Justice. The deadline for the bank's settlement committee to respond to 2,300 complaints by creditors has been extended indefinitely.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Generali CEO Philippe Donnet told Bloomberg News that the insurer is likely to invest at least €3 billion for growth through midsize acquisitions in insurance and asset management. The Italian company is reportedly eyeing potential deals in the U.S., Asia and Europe, including the U.K.
* Italian prosecutors have completed an investigation into allegations that local banks including UniCredit SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA colluded with diamond brokers to defraud their customers, Reuters wrote. The here was no indication, however, from the authorities whether they would request a trial on the matter.
* UniCredit received orders of €2 billion for its €1 billion 5.5-year bond paying 90 basis points over the mid-swap rate, compared with an initial 110 basis points, MF wrote.
* Italy's Banca Ifis SpA and Credito Fondiario SpA agreed to extend the exclusivity commitment regarding a potential partnership in the debt servicing and purchasing sector to the end of October to assess the terms and conditions of the deal.
* BPER Banca SpA and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, in addition to Banco BPM SpA, are also interested in Unione di Banche Italiane SpA and UBI will have to examine the possibilities one by one, MF cited Giandomenico Genta, head of the CR Cuneo Foundation that has a 5.9% of UBI and promoted a new shareholder pact, as saying. Corriere della Sera and Reuters also covered.
* Delfin, the financial holding of Leonardo Del Vecchio, is considering asking supervisory authorities' clearance to raise its stake in Mediobanca - Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA to beyond 10% reaching a maximum of 20%, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Iceland's central bank lowered the rate on seven-day term deposits by another 25 basis points to 3.25% from 3.50% in August. This is the fourth time in the year the regulator has reduced its benchmark rate.
* Danish financial regulator Finanstilsynet has given mortgage bank Jyske Realkredit several injunctions after an investigation of the bank's decision-making process in connection with outsourcing, FinansWatch reported. The decision to outsource was both rushed and defective, Finanstilsynet said, and the bank was ordered to expand the company's policy on outsourcing and to clarify job descriptions and business procedures in this area.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Personal data of the holders of PAO Sberbank of Russia's 60 million active and closed credit cards have been leaked to the black market, Kommersant reported. Experts cited by the newspaper consider the data to be genuine and referred to the leak as the largest in the Russian banking sector. Sberbank, which currently has around 18 million active cards, is yet to verify the authenticity of the leaked data, but noted that its customers' funds are not under threat.
* The representatives of Russian brokerage firms approached the country's central bank with proposals to reduce regulatory burden on local market participants, Kommersant wrote.
* The Polish central bank left its reference rate unchanged at 1.50% as it warned of potential decline in the country's growth rate in the third quarter, driven by the global economic slowdown.
* The Czech Republic's junior governing coalition party ČSSD insists on the introduction of a bank tax and could put forward a relevant proposal on its own if it does not reach an agreement on the matter with its senior coalition partner ANO, news agency ČTK reported.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Goldman Sachs shuffles Asia M&A team; Blackrock in early talks with Tencent
Middle East & Africa: Nigeria hikes banks' loans target; Morocco's BCP acquires Cameroon's BICEC
Latin America: Peru VP steps down; Markel to sell Brazilian ops
North America: Payments companies waver on Libra; TD Ameritrade joins free-trading fray
Global Insurance: Mercury General settlement; Ameriprise sale completion; Allianz circles BBVA biz
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
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Europe finance 'not the fintechs' to win, but the banks' to lose' — Scope: Competition from fintechs is "marginal" for most European banks, according to ratings and research company Scope. But traditional banks must not get complacent about tech investment.
Big banks face target capital shortfall under full application of Basel III: Big banks had a €23.5 billion target capital shortfall at the end of last year on the basis of fully phased-in Basel III banking rules due in 2027, the Bank for International Settlements said.
Sheryl Obejera, Ed Meza, Danielle Rossingh, Esben Svendsen, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Brian McCulloch, Praxilla Trabattoni and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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