* U.S. payments processor giant Mastercard Inc. is buying the majority of the corporate service businesses of European payments technology company Nets A/S for €2.85 billion. The deal, which is expected to to close in the first half of 2020, includes Nets' clearing and instant payment services and e-billing solutions and excludes its e-identification and digitization services. Mastercard expects the deal to be dilutive for up to 24 months after closing, primarily related to purchase accounting and integration-related costs.
UK AND IRELAND
* A group of 24 politicians in the U.K. filed a legal action at Scotland's highest court to prevent New Prime Minister Boris Johnson from closing the parliament in the run-up to the Oct. 31 deadline for Britain to leave the EU, BBC News reported. There has been speculations that Johnson might shut down parliament to force a no-deal Brexit, and the group argues that this would be unlawful.
* Outgoing Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC CEO Ross McEwan said the U.K. leaving the EU without a deal will cause a little bit of "pain and anguish" in the medium term, backing warnings by the Bank of England on the impact of no-deal Brexit, the Financial Times reported.
* U.K. insurer Legal & General Group PLC's first-half profit after tax attributable to equity holders came in at £874 million, up year over year from £771 million. The group will pay an interim dividend of 4.93 pence per share for the period, compared to 4.60 pence per share a year ago.
* British asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen PLC reported first-half IFRS profit attributable to equity shareholders of £661 million, up from £185 million in the year-ago period. As of June 30, Standard Life Aberdeen's assets under management and administration stood at £577.5 billion, up from £551.5 billion at 2018-end.
* HSBC Holdings PLC will appoint Nicolas Moreau as CEO of HSBC Global Asset Management, Sky News reported. Moreau, who replaces Sridhar Chandrasekharan, was previously CEO of DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank AG.
* The HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Scheme has closed a longevity swap transaction with Prudential Financial Inc. subsidiary Prudential Insurance Co. of America to manage risk connected to £7 billion in pensioner liabilities. The transaction is the second-largest deal ever for a U.K. pension scheme.
* U.K.-based TP Icap PLC
* Ireland-based AIB Group PLC
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Commerzbank AG's second-quarter consolidated profit attributable to shareholders slipped year over year to €271 million €272 million, so did its first-half attributable profit, to €391 million from €533 million. The German lender expects its full-year 2019 net income to increase slightly, but warned that the target has "become significantly more ambitious" given the decline in profits, a worsening macroeconomic situation and an uncertain geopolitical situation.
* Munich Re Co.
* Cincinnati Financial Corp. and Germany's Munich Re Co. agreed to an adjusted purchase price of £47.3 million for the entire issued share capital of MSP Underwriting Ltd. The amount reflects a £584,161 decrease in the net asset value of MSP, now rebranded as Cincinnati Global Underwriting Ltd.
* German digital bank Penta Fintech GmbH has raised more than €8 million in an investment round led by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures Adviser GmbH, one of the largest European venture funds, alongside FinLeap GmbH and Fabrick SpA. Penta will invest the funds in the expansion of its financial platform and is aiming to attract small and medium-sized companies as clients.
* Stuttgart-based financial technology startup Comeco GmbH & Co. KG is launching a new digital platform financed by seven of Germany's 11 Sparda-Banks, Handelsblatt reported.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* ABN Amro Bank NV reported second-quarter net profit attributable to owners of the parent company of €693 million, up from the year-ago €684 million. For the first half, the Dutch lender posted attributable profit of €1.17 billion, down on a yearly basis from €1.27 billion.
* Dutch insurer Ageas SA/NV
* The Belgian regulator has given British money transfer services Worldremit and Prepay Solutions permission to start trading in Belgium as the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline looms, De Tijd reported. The Nationale Bank of Belgium has now granted 34 companies permission to offer money transfer services.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* Leading Portuguese banks including Banco BPI SA, Novo Banco SA and Caixa Geral de Depósitos SA are poised to sell a further €4 billion in nonperforming loan portfolios, as part of ongoing efforts to clean up their balance sheets, Jornal de Negócios reported. In the first half, Portuguese banks shed €2.7 billion in nonperforming credit through sales, write-offs and recoveries, Dinheiro Vivo reported, adding that five leading lenders had reduced their bad debt ratio to between 4% and 7.3% of total portfolio, though Novo Banco's default ratio remained high at 21%.
ITALY AND GREECE
* UniCredit SpA reported a reclassified second-quarter net profit attributable to the group of €1.85 billion, up 81.0% from €1.02 billion a year earlier. The Italian lender booked extraordinary items of €825 million, mainly related to gains from its sale of FinecoBank Banca Fineco SpA in July. Adjusted net profit amounted to €1.0 billion in the quarter, up 0.4% from a year ago.
* Italy-based Banco BPM SpA
* Italy-based Credito Valtellinese SpA
* France-based CNP Assurances SA
* The ECB exercised its supervisory duties in full independence from any undue influence or interference in its role played in the rescue of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA and that at the time of the precautionary recapitalization, the lender fulfilled the applicable minimum capital requirements, Il Sole 24 Ore cited ECB Supervisory Board Chair Andrea Enria as saying in a letter to German EU Parliament member Markus Ferber.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Finnish insurer Sampo Oyj
* Sweden-based financial technology firm Klarna Bank AB (publ)
EASTERN EUROPE
* Denis Nozdrachev will step down as chairman of the management board at Interregional Bank for Settlements of the Telecommunications and Postal Services, or Sviaz-Bank, on Aug. 8, Kommersant reported, noting that he could be replaced by PAO Promsvyazbank executive Alexander Chernoshchekin. The Russian government decided earlier this year to transfer Sviaz-Bank from VEB to Promsvyazbank to boost the latter's capital.
* A Russian arbitration court dismissed a 7.1 billion Russian ruble lawsuit launched by non-state pension fund Safmar against Otkritie Financial Corp. Bank, RBC reported.
* The Polish Financial Supervision Authority imposed two fines totaling 10 million Polish zlotys on Alior Bank SA for violations committed during the sale of units in local investment funds, news agency PAP said.
Asia-Pacific: CBA FY profit down 4.7% YOY; AMP mulls bank sale; China eases bank trading rules
Middle East & Africa: Provisions dent SABB's H1 result; Nedbank cuts FY outlook; Moody's rates Niger
Latin America: Bancolombia's Q2 profit surges 58.22%; Brazil's IRB, C6 ink reinsurance deal
North America: FIS Q2 adjusted EPS climbs YOY; JPMorgan confirms Chinese JV majority stake
Global Insurance: Hurricane forecast revised; Greenlight hires Credit Suisse; Athene's $4B fund
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Greenlight Re chair says liquidation 'very unlikely' as it weighs options: David Einhorn indicated to investors that the company may want engage with "strategic partners" as part of its strategic review, and said the company could not rule anything out in the process.
Intesa enjoys 'market-leading' position, but Italian economy poses risks: A market-leading position, prudent management and relatively diverse loan book mean that Intesa Sanpaolo SpA may be in a better position than its peers to weather further downturns in the Italian economy, according to S&P Global Ratings.
Sheryl Obejera, Ed Meza, Danielle Rossingh, Gerard O'Dwyer, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Brian McCulloch, Praxilla Trabattoni, and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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