* A re-emergence of market volatility arising from the ECB's imminent monetary policy tightening poses a bigger challenge for Italian high-yield bond issuers than those elsewhere because of their lack of funding alternatives, according to Fitch Ratings.
* Worldwide cyber insurance premiums will touch about $4 billion by 2021, which translates to a 14.1% compound annual growth rate, according to Aon Inpoint.
* European Banking Authority Chair Andrea Enria said the regulator has decided to launch a formal "breach of union law" probe into Malta's anti-money laundering agency over its handling of local embattled lender Pilatus Bank, Reuters wrote.
UK AND IRELAND
* Lloyds Banking Group PLC raised £344 million from the sale its remaining 97.7 million shares in Standard Life Aberdeen PLC, representing 3.3% of the total shares of the U.K. asset manager, at 352.5 pence per share. Lloyds said the transaction will not have an impact on its income statement.
* Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC CEO Ross McEwan said the lender is looking to repurchase some of its own shares from the U.K. government, subject to regulatory approval and provided that such a move would not put plans to resume dividend payments at risk, Reuters wrote. McEwan said RBS should have news on dividend along with its half-year results, adding that the bank expects to pass this year's stress test, City A.M. reported.
* Liam Coleman will stand down as CEO of Co-operative Bank Plc, after serving at the bank for five years.
* The U.K. Financial Conduct and Prudential Regulation authorities must have the formal remit to ensure that London's banking and insurance industries remain globally competitive after the country leaves the EU, according to Stephen Hammond, a member of the U.K. parliament's Treasury Select Committee, Reuters wrote.
* David Rule, executive director for insurance supervision at the Bank of England, said the regulator was conducting meetings with about 10 insurers based in the country on how they will cope with fallout from climate change on their balance sheets, Reuters reported. The BoE plans to issue a policy statement later in 2018 over the matter.
* British lawmakers have urged TSB Banking Group PLC to consider dismissing CEO Paul Pester after growing frustration over his account of the bank's IT problems, The Times reported.
* Independent fund solutions provider Apex Group Ltd. is acquiring Guernsey-based Ipes (Guernsey) Ltd from pan-European private equity firm Silverfleet Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.
* Arch Capital Group Ltd. is working with the Central Bank of Ireland to secure regulatory approval to continue certain underwriting operations of U.K. insurer Arch Insurance Co. (Europe) Ltd. and Gibraltar insurer Alwyn Insurance Co. Ltd. after the U.K. leaves the EU.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Deutsche Bank AG Chairman Paul Achleitner has talked to the bank's biggest shareholders about a potential merger with German peer Commerzbank AG, although no formal communication has taken place between the two German lenders about the matter, insiders told Bloomberg News. Achleitner has also discussed the potential merger with members of the German government.
* Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank is looking to offload its whole $3 billion portfolio of non-investment grade energy loans and has marketed it to North American and European peers, insiders told Bloomberg News. A separate source told Bloomberg the German lender is also trimming onshore sales and derivatives coverage in its Asia-Pacific equities business and is laying off an unspecified number of employees as part of the move.
* Commerzbank is partnering with Google on the launch of Google Pay in Germany at June-end, insiders told Handelsblatt.
* German insurer ARAG Holding SE is planning to enter the Australian market this year, Börsen-Zeitung reported.
* Postal voting on Switzerland's sovereign money initiative, which would strip banks of the power to create new money through lending, is underway, with polls closing Sunday, Reuters reported.
* UBS Group AG has named Paul Raphael executive vice chairman, Finews.com reported.
* Vienna Insurance Group AG is wholly acquiring Gothaer Finanzholding AG Polish insurance unit Gothaer Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen SA, subject to approval by local authorities. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Société Générale SA CEO Frédéric Oudéa dismissed talks of pending cross-border mergers in Europe, saying it is "not the priority" for the French lender, Reuters reported.
* SocGen named Sébastien Proto head of strategy, replacing William Kadouch-Chassaing, who will become group CFO.
* French financial regulator AMF is proposing a legal framework for the secondary market in cryptocurrency tokens after an initial coin offering has taken place, Les Echos reported.
* Groupama Group changed the statute of its central body, which was converted into a limited responsibility company called Groupama SA, back to a mutual insurance company in a symbolic gesture to "give a real mutual coherence" to the group, Les Echos reported. Groupama SA will become Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.
* Meanwhile, Groupama Group Managing Director Thierry Martel told Les Echos that the group was willing to participate in further consolidation of the French cooperative insurance market, adding that the main competition from the group comes from traditional insurers investing in technology quicker than Groupama.
* Insurance broker SIACI Saint Honoré SAS has been sold to its management by investment fund Ardian and Edmond de Rothschild for just over €1 billion, Les Echos reported.
* Belgium's KBC Group NV told Reuters it will restrict its Iran-related transactions to humanitarian goods, following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to reinstate sanctions on the Middle East country.
* Roelf de Boer will succeed Jaap van Duijn as chairman of the supervisory board of Dutch investment company Value8 NV, De Telegraaf reported.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* The trial over Bankia SA's 2011 IPO will start Nov. 26 following six years of investigations and will last until June 2019, Expansión reported.
* Banco Popular Español SA and subsidiary Banco Pastor will disappear as independent brands in June 2019 after they are fully absorbed by Banco Santander SA, Europa Press wrote.
* CaixaBank SA raised its participation in Banco BPI SA to 94.053%, Dinheiro Vivo reported.
* The Portuguese government defined a limit on the renewal of mandates of leaders of mutual associations in the country. The rule will be applied only to the president or head of the institution, rather than on all members of the board and the supervisory board as originally planned, Jornal de Negócios wrote.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the far-right League parties may push for the separation of Italian lenders' retail and trading operations to protect retail depositors and borrowers from the riskier parts of investment banking, Bloomberg News reported.
* The top Italian administrative court will decide Oct. 18 over appeals against a reform of the country's largest so-called popolari banks into joint stock companies, Reuters reported.
* BPER Banca SpA CEO Alessandro Vandelli said the bank was attracting investor interest for its debt collection unit but wanted to retain the business despite "enormous pressure to cut nonperforming loans," according to Reuters.
* Crédit Agricole Cariparma SpA CEO Giampiero Maioli said the bank aims to reduce its nonperforming loans by 30% to 35% this year, which would bring its gross NPL ratio to between 7.0% and 7.5% and its net ratio to between 3.0% and 3.5%, MF reported.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB completed the sale of Danish pension units SEB Pensionsforsikring A/S and SEB Administration A/S to Danica Pension Livsforsikrings A/S.
* The shareholders of Nordjyske Bank A/S and Ringkjøbing Landbobank A/S approved a merger between the banks at their respective meetings yesterday, Finans reported. The combined entity will continue under the Ringkjøbing Landbobank name and will have a market value of almost 12 billion Danish kroner, making it Denmark's fourth-largest bank. The FSA is expected to approve of the merger on 8 June.
* Swedish niche lender Nordax Bank AB (publ) is acquiring Svensk Hypotekspension, Realtid reported.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Russia's central bank and Federal Antimonopoly Service are working on various measures, including the introduction of a minimum rate on retail deposits, that would bolster competition on the financial market, Vedomosti reported.
* VTB Bank (PJSC) confirmed its interest in the acquisition of Vozrozhdenie Bank and could complete the transaction in the third quarter, Vedomosti reported, citing VTB CEO Andrey Kostin. Kostin also said the bank has no plans to purchase pension funds, according to Reuters.
* PAO Sberbank of Russia CEO Herman Gref told Kommersant that the lender eyes a ROE of around 20% in 2018 under its baseline scenario, while the ratio of operating income to operating expenses should be below 35%. The executive also noted that Sberbank wants to shift its European business to such countries as Belarus and Kazakhstan, which hold better development prospects for the lender.
* The Russian-China Investment Fund, set up by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corp., plans to acquire a minority stake in PJSC Sovcombank, Vedomosti reported.
* Home Credit BV agreed to sell its nonbanking credit and financial organization Home Credit Belarus to Russian privately owned Alfa Bank Group.
* The Albanian central bank approved the sale of National Bank of Greece SA unit Banka NBG Albania sh.a. to American Bank of Investments, SEENews wrote.
* The Ukrainian parliament voted to dismiss Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk, Reuters reported.
* The Serbian central bank kept its key policy rate on hold at 3.0%, saying currently low inflation is expected to gradually move toward the target.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Australia's Prospa delays IPO indefinitely; UK firm to invest in Indian PE fund
Middle East & Africa: Atlas Mara Q1 profit rises YOY; Moody's lowers Cameroon outlook
Latin America: Itaú to appeal court rulings on taxes, unjust charges; S&P downgrades Barbados
North America: Mulvaney axes CFPB's advisory board; Dimon, Buffett urge against 'short-termism'
North America Insurance: Icahn backs AmTrust; AIG eyeing more M&A; Aetna CFO to replace CVS Health's
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