UK AND IRELAND
* Outgoing Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC CFO Ewen Stevenson said the U.K. government's plan to sell a significant part of its 70% stake in the lender could be delayed by the Italian political crisis that has affected the European markets. Stevenson is believed to be among the favorites to replace Iain Mackay as group finance director at HSBC Holdings PLC, according to The Times.
* UK Government Investments, the body that manages the British government's holdings of corporate assets and their sales, voted against a special resolution for the creation of a committee at RBS to give investors more say over corporate governance at the bank, the Financial Times reported. UKGI said the proposal was not in the best interest of taxpayers.
* Private equity funds advised by BC Partners LLP and Sabre Insurance Group PLC co-founder Angus Ball sold an approximately 18.2% stake in the U.K. private motor insurance firm for gross proceeds of £112.8 million.
* U.K. digital lender Starling Bank is looking to raise up to £80 million in fresh funding in 2018, a source told City A.M.
* Legal & General Group PLC said Legal & General Investment Management CEO Mark Zinkula intends to retire in August 2019.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Deutsche Bank AG CEO Christian Sewing said the U.S. is "fundamentally" the most important market to the German lender, although it may retreat from a "couple of small business areas," Bloomberg News reported. Separately, Deutsche Bank is looking to dispose of its 8.8% stake in embattled Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group Ltd., insiders told Reuters.
* Deutsche Börse AG plans to cut 350 jobs as part of its efforts to enhance operational efficiency and reduce structural costs by around €100 million by 2020-end. One-off costs for the measures will amount to some €200 million, most of which will be incurred in 2018. Deutsche Börse also split its business into nine segments to enhance its operational structure.
* Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale reported first-quarter consolidated profit after tax of €43 million under IFRS 9, down from an adjusted €248 million under IAS 39 in the same period in 2017.
* Allianz Group agreed to acquire an 8% stake in Nigeria-based African Reinsurance Corp. for a total cash consideration payable at closing of $81 million.
* Credit Suisse Group AG is close to an agreement to settle a $1.2 billion derivatives demand against the bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Handelsblatt reported. Credit Suisse is reportedly set to reduce the claim to $385 million. The settlement would end a 10-year fight over costs that the Swiss lender said it incurred to replace tens of thousands of derivatives trades it had entered with Lehman before its collapse in 2008.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations launched its new Banque des Territoires, tasked mainly with lending to local governments, Les Echos reported.
* The Dutch central bank reappointed Klaas Knot as president for another seven-year term, Bloomberg wrote.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* The Spanish parliament will begin its formal debate today over a no-confidence vote to remove Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the FT wrote.
* Millennium BCP shareholders approved the bank's new management, with Miguel Maya replacing Nuno Amado as CEO, Expresso, Jornal Económico and Jornal de Negócios wrote. Amado will become chairman under the new leadership team, which still needs final approval from the ECB.
* Sonangol — Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola EP, the second-largest shareholder in BCP, is not planning to increase its 19.49% stake in the bank, Público reported, citing Carlos Saturnino, chairman of the Angolan state oil firm.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Italy's Prime Minister-designate Carlo Cottarelli signaled that it was still possible for the Five Star Movement and the League to establish a political government as he waits for further developments to materialize following turmoil in the country's financial market, Reuters reported. Five Star leader Luigi di Maio said the two parties could still form a government if the League agrees to find another candidate for the economy minister post after President Sergio Mattarella rejected nominee Paolo Savona.
* Moody's yesterday placed on review for downgrade certain ratings of UniCredit SpA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and several other Italian banks.
* Eurobank Ergasias SA reported first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of €35 million, down from €37 million in the same period a year ago.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Norway-based DNB Bank ASA, Danish lender Danske Bank A/S and Sweden's Nordea Bank AB (publ), Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB are looking into the potential formation of a Nordic know-your-customer infrastructure, which will initially serve large and medium-sized corporates in the region.
* Estonian authorities are unlikely to impose penalties on Danske Bank over possible money-laundering irregularities at its local branch, Berlingske Business wrote. A report by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority places the onus for the imposition of sanctions against Danske Bank, if any should be forthcoming, with the Danish FSA.
* Danica Pension Livsforsikrings A/S' acquisition of SEB Pensionsforsikring A/S received regulatory approval from the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority.
* Collector Bank AB named Martin Nossman CEO, replacing Liza Nyberg, according to Svenska Dagbladet.
EASTERN EUROPE
* PAO Sberbank of Russia reported a first-quarter group net profit of 212.1 billion Russian rubles under the new IFRS 9 accounting standards, up from 166.6 billion rubles in the same period in 2017.
* VTB Bank (PJSC) head Andrey Kostin estimates that complying with new capital requirements that will come into force in Russia from 2019 will cost the lender 140 billion Russian rubles, Reuters said.
* JSC Russian Agricultural Bank hopes to receive additional 10 billion rubles of fresh capital from the state in 2018, in addition to the 5 billion rubles already earmarked in Russia's budget, Vedomosti reported, citing the lender's deputy head Kirill Levin.
* Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov completed the acquisition of a 39.4% stake in JSC JSCB International Financial Club from Winterlux Ltd., Vedomosti reported.
* Region Infrastructure, a unit of Russian investment group Region, won an auction to acquire 100% of OJSC State Insurance Co. Yugoria from Russia's Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area, Kommersant reported.
* The Russian central bank started a merger procedure for National Bank Trust PJSC and JSC Rost Bank, bailed out by the regulator together with their parent companies in 2017, news agency Prime reported.
* The Slovak financial sector is resilient to shocks and the country's economy is showing the signs of overheating, Reuters reported, citing the Slovak central bank's annual financial stability report.
* The Kazakh central bank denied information on financial problems of some local lenders circulated via local messenger applications, Kapital.kz reported. The regulator also asked law enforcement agencies to identify distributors of the information.
* The ECB has asked the European Court of Justice in a first hearing to reinstate some of embattled Latvian central bank Governor Ilmars Rimševics' powers related to his duties as a member of the ECB Governing Council, Reuters reported. The ECB had asked the court to look into whether Latvian authorities breached EU laws by imposing certain security measures on Rimševics.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong OKs virtual banks; Indonesia hikes rate; ICICI Bank to probe CEO
Middle East & Africa: Mizrahi-Union Bank merger blocked; NCB has new CEO; Allianz buys Africa Re stake
Latin America: Credicorp Chile $100M investment program; Brazil banks react to truckers strike
North America: Independent Bank buying MNB Bancorp; National Bank of Canada's fiscal Q2 EPS up
North America Insurance: Egan-Jones sides with AmTrust; WellCare in $2.5B deal; Berkshire top 3 reinsurer
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
RBS hints at a return to dividend payments as CFO quits: The recent DoJ settlement removed the final obstacle to Royal Bank of Scotland Group paying its first dividend for a decade, Chairman Sir Howard Davies told the lender's AGM.
Boston Consulting Group: Sluggish growth to persist for western European banks: Revenues of Western European retail banks will grow at a slower pace than other global regions over the next three years as unfavorable regulation will outweigh any benefits from interest rate rises, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
Leo Magno, 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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