* ECB President Mario Draghi said the ECB's Single Supervisory Mechanism is reviewing potential prudential risks that cryptocurrencies could pose to banks' balance sheets, Bloomberg News reported.
* Germany-based investment bank Joh. Berenberg Gossler & Co. KG plans to boost its London staff by up to 100 over the next 18 months as it seeks to take advantage of an expected M&A boom in the U.K. and an anticipated increase in demand for equities analysis following a recent EU regulatory revamp, The Daily Telegraph reported, citing Dave Mortlock, head of Berenberg's London office.
UK AND IRELAND
* Lloyds Banking Group Plc said it will cut roughly 1,000 jobs across six businesses as it prepares a three-year strategic plan to be unveiled Feb. 21, Bloomberg News reported. A Lloyds spokeswoman said the majority of the cuts will be in the bank's commercial banking unit, its chief information office, risk, community banking, insurance and wealth, adding that the company eventually plans to add 465 positions across its businesses.
* Lloyd's of London said it will require all brokers and underwriters to place their transactions electronically in a push to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The Financial Times has a report.
* Prudential Financial Inc. unit Prudential Insurance Co. of America agreed to assume the longevity risk for annuities worth approximately $1.8 billion held by Lloyds Banking Group Plc unit Scottish Widows Group Ltd. This is the first longevity risk reinsurance agreement between the U.S.-based insurer and the U.K.-based banking group.
* Virgin Money Holdings (UK) Plc has joined Lloyds Banking Group Plc and several U.S. banks in banning credit card customers from buying cryptocurrencies, Reuters reported. Barclays Plc, meanwhile, said it currently has no plan to take similar actions and is "keeping [the] matter under close review," while Spanish lender Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA said it has no restrictions in place on such transactions.
* Michel Barnier, the European chief negotiator for Brexit, warned that the U.K. will face "unavoidable" barriers to trade if it chooses to leave the bloc's single market and customs union, adding that the "time has come" for Britain to "make a choice" on what it wants after leaving the EU, the Financial Times reported.
* Meanwhile, ECB President Mario Draghi said the regulator is preparing for the possibility that the U.K. and the EU will be unable to agree on a transition deal for Brexit, Bloomberg News wrote. "At this stage, we do not have clarity regarding the shape of the U.K.'s future relationship with the EU," Draghi said.
* U.K. Financial Conduct Authority CEO Andrew Bailey called on British and European regulators to sign by March-end a memorandum of understanding that will "give effect to a stable and orderly transition" for Brexit, the Financial Times reported. Bailey said such a pact should include a commitment to give the financial services sector time to adjust to the U.K.'s departure from the EU. Reuters also covered.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* After eliminating thousands of jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive, Credit Suisse Group AG now plans to reduce its number of managers so that it has seven employees per manager, Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported, citing Serge Fehr, head of the company's Swiss private banking and wealth management unit.
* German real estate developer Anno August Jagdfeld is suing local financial services and insurance group Signal Iduna for €1 billion, alleging that Signal Iduna led a character assassination campaign against him, Bild reported. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 7.
* Munich Re reported preliminary fourth-quarter 2017 profit attributable to equity holders of €530 million, compared to €491 million in the year-ago period. For full year 2017, attributable profit came in at €375 million, down year over year from €2.58 billion.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* IDI, an investment company listed on Euronext Paris, has decided to sell its entire investment in Idinvest, representing about 51% of the firm's share capital, to Eurazeo, L'Agefi and Les Echos reported. Eurazeo will subsequently own about 70% of Idinvest, with Idinvest management retaining around 30%.
* Olga Zoutendijk, ABN AMRO Group NV's supervisory board chairman, will step down July 1 following certain internal criticism levied against her, Het Financieele Dagblad reported.
* Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd NV is being sued by housing association Vereniging Eigen Huis and a consumer association for charging excessively high penalty interest rates to clients, Het Financieele Dagblad reported.
* BNP Paribas SA reported fourth-quarter 2017 net income attributable to equity holders of €1.43 billion, down from €1.44 billion in the year-ago period. The bank recorded revenues of €10.53 billion for the quarter, a year-over-year decline from €10.66 billion.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* Unicaja Banco SA reported fourth-quarter 2017 attributable net income of €6 million, compared to €50 million in the previous quarter. For full year 2017, the Spanish lender reported attributable net income of €142 million, virtually unchanged from a year ago.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Credito Valtellinese SpA reported a reclassified consolidated full-year 2017 net loss of €331.8 million, compared to a net loss of €333.1 million a year earlier.
* Tax police in Italy seized €106 million in allegedly illicit profit made by Banca Popolare di Vicenza SpA, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.
* Intesa Sanpaolo SpA's business plan due to be published today will not announce a deal to sell bad loans as negotiations with Swedish group Intrum Justitia and China's Cefc are still ongoing, la Repubblica wrote. The Swedish group is reportedly prepared to buy some €12 billion of nonperforming loans at 25% of their nominal value.
* Credito Fondiario SpA, which in late 2017 backed a capital hike at Banca Carige SpA, has lowered its stake in the lender to 4.894% from 5.397%, Reuters reported, citing a regulatory filing.
* Generali completed the sale of its entire shareholding in Generali Nederland NV and its subsidiaries to ASR Nederland NV.
* Intesa Sanpaolo SpA reported full-year 2017 net income of €3.81 billion, compared to the year-ago €3.11 billion. The 2017 profit figure excludes a public cash contribution of €3.5 billion.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* A string of recent senior executive departures at Nordea Bank AB (publ) may be linked to the bank's decision to relocate its group headquarters to Helsinki from Stockholm, wrote Dagens Industri. Among the departures is Alvaro Garrido, Nordea group's IT manager, and Erik Kjellberg, the head of group compliance operations.
* Skandia Ab's owners in Sweden want the company to divest its operations in Denmark due to low profitability in the country, wrote Dagens Industri. Some industry insiders speculate that Skandia has appointed investment bank Carnegie to lead the sale, with an asking price of between 1.2 billion and 1.5 billion kronor.
* Swedbank AB (publ) reported fourth-quarter 2017 profit attributable to shareholders of the bank of 4.74 billion Swedish kronor, up from 4.14 billion kronor a year earlier. For full year 2017, the bank reported attributable profit of 19.35 billion kronor, down 1% from 19.54 billion kronor in 2016.
EASTERN EUROPE
* A consortium made up of pension fund Blagosostoyanie and JSC VTB Bank could become a new shareholder of Vozrozhdenie Bank, which has to be sold by its current owners following the recent bailout of another business they control, Kommersant said. Vedomosti reports that Blagosostoyanie does not plan on participating in the acquisition of Vozrozhdenie Bank, but could enter into an agreement to merge the lender with Absolut Bank (PAO), which is affiliated with Blagosostoyanie.
* Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service has prepared proposals aimed at restricting purchases of banks by state-owned entities, while specific amendments to existing legislation will be developed together with the central bank, Kommersant reported. Certain acquisitions, such as those carried out for national security purposes, could be excluded from the proposal.
* The Russian central bank revoked the license of Siberian Bank for Reconstruction and Development following a sharp deterioration in the lender's financial position, Vedomosti reported.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Great Eastern in Malaysian M&A talks; Macquarie ups FY'18 profit guidance
Middle East & Africa: First Abu Dhabi gets Saudi securities licence; Investec selling Irish unit
Latin America: 2 Bradesco execs face charges; bankruptcy filings in Brazil down 26.1% YOY
North America: Fed sanctions Wells Fargo; JPMorgan clients air concerns over healthcare venture
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Data Dispatch EMEA: Threat of new US sanctions hangs over Russian banks as state stakes grow: Potential new U.S. sanctions could affect Russian banks' international activities, while a sharp increase in ownership of by state-affiliated entities will stifle competition in the sector, analysts say.
Russian state to further consolidate banks, sales seen after five years: The state is still cleaning up the banking sector by taking over struggling lenders, and although it is aware of the competition concerns it is causing, sales may only begin around 2022, according to Ekaterina Trofimova, CEO of ACRA.
As Crédit Mutuel Arkéa conflict intensifies, likelihood of split growing: Crédit Mutuel Arkéa's determination to split from its parent group is increasing the likelihood of a split, raising concerns over its legal status and impact on its credit.
Atif Hussein, Ed Meza, Meike Wijers, Gerard O'Dwyer, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Stephanie Salti, Praxilla Trabattoni and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription.
