* The central bank of Iceland kept its interest rate unchanged at 4.25%, while Georgia's central bank
* European occupational pensions institutions collectively have insufficient funds to cover their liabilities, and sponsors of more than a quarter of the institutions may face challenges in meeting their obligations, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority's biennial stress test of the occupational pensions industry has found. The regulator warned that the industry's vulnerabilities to institutions for occupational retirement provision could spill over to the real economy, either through the effect on sponsors or through a reduction of benefits for pension scheme beneficiaries
* The European Commission said it has recognized several trading venues in Australia, Hong Kong and the U.S. as eligible for compliance with the trading obligation for shares set out in the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID II, set to come into force Jan. 3, 2018.
UK AND IRELAND
* Members of the U.K. House of Commons voted in favor of an amendment to the EU withdrawal bill requiring passage of a separate measure before any Brexit agreement is implemented. Prime Minister Theresa May argued that the amendment would hamper her government's ability to effect an orderly exit from the EU.
* The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority published consultation papers on how firms and individuals will transition to the senior managers and certification regime. The FCA, which is consulting on extending the regime to nearly all regulated financial institutions, said it assumes that the rules will apply to insurers in late 2018 and solo-regulated firms in mid-to-late 2019, with actual commencement dates to be announced and set by the U.K. Treasury in due course.
* BlackRock Inc., a key shareholder in London Stock Exchange Group Plc, is expected to vote against TCI Fund Management's bid to oust LSE Chairman Donald Brydon during an upcoming shareholder meeting, an insider told Reuters.
* British poltiician Peter Hain said the Financial Conduct Authority is now engaging with a whistleblower as part of an investigation into allegations of illicit transfers out of South Africa by the controversial Gupta family via HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc, The Daily Telegraph reported.
* The Central Bank of Ireland sold an additional €500 million tranche of debt linked to the failure of Anglo Irish Bank, with €15.53 billion of debt still remaining with the regulator, The Irish Times reported.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* UBS Group AG made changes to its group executive board, including naming Martin Blessing president of wealth management. He will succeed Jürg Zeltner, who will step down from the executive board at 2017-end and retire from UBS in 2018. Group COO Axel Lehmann will take over Blessing's duties as president of personal and corporate banking and president of UBS Switzerland.
* Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. has received a banking license in Switzerland and opened a branch in Zurich, Handelszeitung reported.
* Maerki Baumann & Co. AG CEO Stephan Zwahlen told Finews that the bank plans to enter collaborations with financial technology firms to improve its digital infrastructure and make it fit for new challenges such as open banking arising from the new Payment Services Directive, or PSD 2, taking effect in January 2018.
* VR-Leasing AG, a unit of DZ Bank AG, is undergoing another restructuring and will sell its business segment centralized settlement and its subsidiary BFL Gesellschaft des Bürofachhandels mbH & Co. KG, Börsen-Zeitung reported.
* Germany's finance ministry, financial regulator Bafin and the Deutsche Bundesbank are carefully monitoring the impact of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin on financial markets, Reuters reported, citing a finance ministry spokesman.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Aegon NV said Supervisory Board Chairman Robert Routs will step down at the company's next annual general meeting May 18, 2018. William Connelly will succeed Routs as chairman.
* An EU tribunal rejected an appeal by Crédit Mutuel Arkéa SACC to avoid being supervised by the ECB, Les Echos and L'Agefi reported.
* Worldline SA said it is recruiting more than 1,500 people in various fields as part of plans to support the French payments company's development.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* The Spanish government is planning to sell between 15% and 20% of Bankia SA following the successful sale of a 7% stake in the bank this week, Expansión wrote. Insiders told the paper that the sale could take place as of February 2018.
* Banco BPI SA already meets the minimum capital ratios that will be required under ECB rules for common equity Tier 1, Tier 1 and total capital next year, Jornal de Negócios wrote. Earlier this year, the Portuguese lender did not meet the total ratio requirement, prompting it to issue subordinated debt.
* A Portuguese court has granted an injunction blocking the management of toxic assets from failed bank Banif-Banco Internacional do Funchal SA by a private asset management company, Lusa news agency reported.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Generali appointed Jaime Anchustegui Melgarejo to the newly created role of group chief operations and insurance officer, effective from Jan. 1, 2018.
* Banca Popolare di Vicenza SpA never received any pressure from the Bank of Italy for a merger with Veneto Banca SpA, and the potential link up with Banca Etruria failed because the Tuscan bank rejected the offer, MF reported, citing former Popolare di Vicenza Chairman Gianni Zonin.
* Meanwhile, the transfer of nonperforming loans from the Venetian banks under liquidation to Società Gestioni Attivi could take place in January 2018 instead of the earlier deadline of the beginning of December, MF wrote.
* Intesa Sanpaolo SpA completed the transfer of certain assets and liabilities from the former Romanian branch of Veneto Banca to the newly-established Intesa Sanpaolo SpA Torino Bucharest Branch, SEENews reported.
* The Bank of Italy demanded that weaker cooperative credit banks merge with other cooperative credit banks, while the others have to adapt as quickly as possible to the guidelines imposed by the sector's umbrella holding companies, Iccrea Holding SpA and Cassa Centrale Banca, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.
* The Greek Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik against his extradition to the U.S., where he is wanted for his alleged key role in a $4 billion bitcoin-laundering ring, Reuters reported.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB signed an agreement to sell all shares in SEB Pensionsforsikring A/S and SEB Administration A/S to Danica Pension Livsforsikrings A/S for a total proceed of 6.5 billion Danish kroner. The transaction is expected to complete around the summer of 2018.
* Ratos AB named Chairman Jonas Wiström as the Swedish private equity firm's CEO, effective Dec. 13, replacing Magnus Agervald. Per-Olof Söderberg will take over as the new chairman of the board.
* Swedish financial technology firm iZettle AB is considering the idea of a sale as an alternative to preparing for an IPO, an insider told Bloomberg News.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Banco Santander SA and unit Bank Zachodni WBK SA reached an agreement with Deutsche Bank AG for the acquisition of the retail and private banking businesses from Deutsche Bank Polska SA, excluding the foreign-currency mortgage portfolio and including the shares of DB Securities SA (Poland), for an estimated total consideration of €305 million.
* Following his appointment as Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki decided to divest his entire stake in Bank Zachodni WBK, which he had previously headed, PAP reported.
* PAO Sberbank of Russia prepared a new dividend policy, under which it will raise dividend payments to 50% of its IFRS net profit, with the increase to first apply in 2020 on payments made from the 2019 financial result, Vedomosti reported, citing Bloomberg.
* Sberbank and Russian technology company Yandex entered into a binding agreement to form an e-commerce joint venture on the Yandex.Market platform. The Russian state-controlled bank also said unit Sberbank Europe AG completed the sale of its 99.92% stake in Ukraine-based PJSC VS Bank to local conglomerate TAS Group.
* JSC Alfa-Bank plans to acquire a mortgage portfolio worth around 3 billion Russian rubles from Absolut Bank (PAO) and is hoping to close the transaction by 2017-end or in the first quarter of 2018, Kommersant reported.
* Slovenian finance and tourism conglomerate Sava agreed to sell its 37.7% stake in Gorenjska banka dd Kranj to Serbia-based AIK Banka ad Beograd, Reuters reported, citing news agency STA.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: US Fed raises rates; Blackstone to enter Australian mortgage market
Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE raise rates; Fitch removes Qatari banks from rating watch
Latin America: Brazil banks, depositors reach compensation deal; Argentina holds key rate
North America: Court tosses suit over OCC fintech charter; Heartland in Iowa buying Texas bank
North America Insurance: NJ clears Prudential Financial in Wells scandal; $130B in insured cat losses
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Data Dispatch EMEA: Analysts question rationale of Zurich's Australian push: The acquisition of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group's OnePath business fits Zurich's Australian expansion but, given the perils of the market, two analysts questioned whether the Swiss company is on the right track.
Basel III recognition of covered bonds to drive non-EU bank investor appetite: Covered bonds were recognized as a "valid" form of bank funding by the Basel Committee in the final Basel III rule book, a move that is expected to drive investor appetite for this kind of debt instrument outside of the EU, credit analysts say.
Leo Magno, Arno Maierbrugger, Gerard O'Dwyer, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Stephanie Salti and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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