* Elections for the European Parliament are being held today in the U.K. and Netherlands, with other EU member states following over the next three days, Sky News noted. Results will be unveiled Sunday after all 28 member states have cast their votes.
* Italian insurance group Generali
* Home Credit Group BV, controlled by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner's investment group PPF, is planning an IPO of at least $1 billion in Hong Kong, with Citigroup, HSBC and Morgan Stanley to lead the offering, insiders told Reuters. The listing could take place in September or October.
* U.K. House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom resigned from Prime Minister Theresa May's government, saying she opposes the concessions set out in the newly proposed Brexit legislation. Leadsom added that a second referendum would be "dangerously divisive" and may undermine the integrity of the U.K., echoing sentiments May previously expressed.
* Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC-backed financial technology firm Loot Financial Services Ltd.
*
Barclays PLC
* Christopher Woolard, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's strategy director, warned asset managers that unless they disclose fees to institutional investors using a voluntary template, the regulator would consider tougher actions, including making the template mandatory, Reuters reported.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* German financial watchdog Bafin ordered online bank N26 GmbH
* Deutsche Bank AG
* Proxy advisory firm Hermes EOS reportedly urged Deutsche Bank shareholders to absolve the lender's executives of liability for their actions last year at today's annual general meeting. Hermes also recommended not voting to oust supervisory board chairman Paul Achleitner. Handelsblatt also covered.
* A New York federal judge junked U.S. President Donald Trump's preliminary injunction request to bar banks from handing over financial records to lawmakers, potentially allowing Congress to access his files in Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corp., news outlets including Bloomberg News and Reuters reported.
* Deutsche Bank will retain its presence in the U.S. where it primarily operates its troubled investment bank division, but is looking for measures to lift growth and cut costs there, CFO James von Moltke told Börsen-Zeitung.
* Commerzbank AG
* Vienna Insurance Group AG posted pretax profit of €127.5 million for the first quarter of 2019, up from the year-ago €117.3 million. Premium income rose 3% on a yearly basis to €2.9 billion. CEO Elisabeth Stadler maintained the insurer’s targets to achieve a premium volume of €9.9 billion and pretax profit of between €500 million and €520 million in 2019.
* Allianz X GmbH, the digital investment unit of Allianz Group, has acquired Finanzen.de GmbH, a financial products comparison platform covering insurance, pension funds and private finances.
* Swiss asset management firm Geneva Management Group SA launched a new unit, GMG Institutional Asset Management SA, which will focus on investment solutions for institutional clients, mainly Swiss pension funds.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Dutch payments company Adyen NV
* A U.S. appellate court revived a lawsuit filed by alleged victims of a genocidal regime in Sudan against BNP Paribas SA, saying claims that the French lender's New York branches aided the Sudanese government's atrocities were subject to judicial review, Reuters reported.
* Bailed out by the French state six years ago, Crédit Immobilier de France
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* Millennium BCP's shareholders approved a plan to return €30 million in dividends and make a €12 million payment to employees to compensate for salary reductions and freezes it implemented between 2014 and 2017, Jornal de Negócios reported. Despite the decision, more than a thousand workers protested at the bank's headquarters demanding immediate payment, rather than the three-year gradual compensation proposed by BCP.
ITALY AND GREECE
* UniCredit SpA
* Meanwhile, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA will only divest up to half of a €10 billion portfolio of unlikely-to-pay loans in a sale currently being negotiated with Prelios, insiders told Reuters.
* The ECB is increasing pressure on Banca Carige SpA to involve private investors in its capital strengthening plans, according to MF. To help attract investment funds to invest in Carige, extraordinary commissioners of Carige are evaluating the possibility of reducing its capital requirements to €630 million from €720 million previously and taking steps to facilitate their future exit from the bank's capital, Il Sole 24 Ore wrote.
* Meanwhile, an amendment to an Italian legislative package of economic growth measures could allow Banca Carige to benefit from a €700 million tax break should it merge with a small lender, Corriere della Sera reported.
* Luigi Luzzatti Spa, affiliated with Italian cooperative banking association Assopopolare, is preparing a portfolio of €1 billion in nonperforming loans from 15 small lenders, with an aim to close a sale by June, MF wrote.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Sweden's central bank said the country's Financial Supervisory Authority should impose a 5% leverage ratio requirement for banks. The regulator also cautioned that the money laundering scandal involving local banks could weigh on their ability to secure funding.
* Iceland's central bank lowered the rate on seven-day term deposits to 4% from 4.5%, noting that the country's economy is bound to contract this year due to a decline in tourism.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d. CEO Michael Georg Müller said the Raiffeisen Bank International AG
* TCS Group Holding Plc, the holding company of Russia-based JSC Tinkoff Bank, said Tinkoff Group agreed to acquire an additional 35% stake in Latvia-based Cloud Payments International, LLC. Upon completion, the deal will increase the group's stake to 90%, having bought a 55% stake in October 2017.
* PKO Leasing SA will reduce the price offered in a tender to acquire all shares of Polish vehicle fleet operator Prime Car Management SA from 23.75 Polish zlotys to 20.0 Polish zlotys apiece during the second phase of the tender, which will take place between May 23 and June 11, news agency PAP noted.
* The Polish central bank's head Adam Glapiński said entering the eurozone would "dramatically limit growth opportunities" for the Polish economy and that he would not allow for Poland to apply for the eurozone membership as long as he heads the central bank, Reuters reported, noting that Glapiński's term ends in 2022.
* The board of Romania's central bank unanimously voted to hold the benchmark interest rate at 2.50% during a meeting last week, according to bank minutes seen by Reuters.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: ICBC gets nod to set up unit; 5 face charges for Bangladesh Bank heist
Middle East & Africa: Zambia central bank hikes key rate; Kenyan banks post Q1 results
Latin America: 2 Panama banks in proposed merger; Caixa to restructure client debts
North America: JPMorgan exec pay support dips; Morgan Stanley trims in London; 2 RIAs acquired
Global Insurance: Potential MetLife/Generali deal; Fairfax Financial CFO dies; cat bonds pricing
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Deza Mones, Arno Maierbrugger, Danielle Rossingh, Esben Svendsen, Beata Fojcik, Heather O'Brian, Stephanie Salti, Sophie Davies and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.
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