* The ECB said it could give banks relocating operations to Europe from Britain more time to meet certain requirements, such as local risk management capabilities and governance structures.
* The European Parliament voted to strengthen plans requiring U.K.-based clearing houses handling euro-denominated financial contracts to comply with EU rules and accept EU supervision after Britain leaves the bloc in 2019, the Financial Times reported. Lawmakers also wants to give EU regulators more powers to oversee the conduct and operations of such institutions.
* German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she backed a proposal to make the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund of the eurozone a common backstop for banks but only if the balance sheets of national banks were reduced first, Reuters reported.
UK AND IRELAND
* AIB Group Plc agreed to sell a nonperforming loan portfolio to Everyday Finance DAC for a cash consideration of €800 million upon completion. The portfolio had a gross balance sheet value of €1.1 billion as of March 31.
* Former Indian central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan told reporters he does not intend to apply for the top job at the Bank of England, which will become vacant in 2019 after Mark Carney steps down, Bloomberg News wrote.
* The planned merger of Saudi Arabia-based lenders Alawwal Bank and Saudi British Bank will free Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, which owns a 40% stake in Alawwal, of £4.9 billion in assets and strengthen its core capital, an insider told Reuters. The deal is expected to reduce RBS' stake in the merged group and Alawwal to about 5% and 15%, respectively.
* An Aviva PLC spokesman said the company will compensate about 6,000 customers who faced payment delays and other problems due to failed technological changes to one of the firm's pension platforms, Reuters reported.
* Permanent TSB Group Holdings PLC's board decided to withdraw approximately €900 million in split mortgages from a portfolio of nonperforming loans put up for sale in February.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Speaking at the company's annual general meeting, Deutsche Börse AG CEO Theodor Weimer said the company will look into acquisition opportunities that would complement its business and that the German stock exchange operator intends to reduce its structural costs by €100 million by 2020-end to finance investments in growth and technology. For that, the company expects to book one-time costs of €200 million, which will mainly be incurred this year. Deutsche Börse also plans to cut 50 management positions to make the organization more efficient and agile.
* In the same meeting, Deutsche Börse Chairman Joachim Faber signaled that he may not serve a full new term, saying "this would be under my personal reservation of preparing a transition period for the chairmanship" in the course of the new term.
* Zurich's public prosecution department announced that the pretrial detention of former Raiffeisen Gruppe Switzerland CEO Pierin Vincenz and business partner Beat Stocker will be extended because new "criminally relevant" transactions involving Raiffeisen-related payment company Aduno Holding AG have emerged.
* Adrian Schatzmann, a former managing director and global head of investment funds at UBS Group AG's wealth management division, launched digital asset management provider Clear Minds Investment AG, Finews wrote.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* NN Group NV reported first-quarter consolidated net result of €399 million, down from €435 million in the same period in 2017. The Dutch group said the decline reflects lower operating result and higher special items, partly compensated by higher nonoperating items.
* Meanwhile, NN Group disclosed that along with asset management unit NN Investment Partners Holdings NV, the company has decided to exclude tobacco from all of its investments.
* KBC Group NV reported first-quarter net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent of €556 million under IFRS 9, down from €630 million under IAS 39 in the first three months of 2017.
* Scor SE is restructuring large corporate risks insurance unit SCOR Business Solutions to increase client centricity, as part of the company's current strategic plan. Laurent Rousseau, who serves as deputy CEO of Scor Global P&C SE, will lead SCOR Business Solutions.
* French payment solutions provider Worldline SA acquired 20% of Swiss mobile payment company Twint AG.
* French banks are urging companies to exit Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to reinstate financial sanctions on the country, according to Les Echos.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* Bankia SA has put more than 2,600 properties up for sale at discounts of up to 40%, Expansión reported.
* The head of Portugal's ASF insurance industry regulator, José Almaça, told parliament that the proposed sale of a 60% controlling stake in the Montepio Seguros holding to China's CEFC Group has been halted due to a lack of information from foreign regulators, Jornal de Negócios reported.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Vittoria Capital, which already owns 51.15% of Vittoria Assicurazioni SpA, launched a €14 per share offer for 40.76% of the insurer in a bid to delist it, all dailies including MF wrote, noting that the offer price represents a 19.5% premium to the May 15 closing price of the insurer.
* Italy's antitrust authorities launched an investigation into Mote Titoli, a unit of the London Stock Exchange, for alleged market abuse in the post-trading sector, MF wrote.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Gustaf Unger, the new co-head of Nordea Bank AB (publ)'s wealth management unit, said the Swedish lender is reorganizing the division to increase its focus on digital services that will result in 40 staff moving into a new unit, Bloomberg News reported.
* Meanwhile, Nordea's plan to move its domicile to Finland from Sweden will add "structural vulnerabilities" in the Finnish economy as it will enlarge the country's banking sector, according to Finland's central bank.
* Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB Chief Strategy Officer Rasmus Järborg has left the bank, Breakit reported. Anna Grandt, head of digital strategy and governance is functioning in Järborg's place while a replacement is being found.
* The Icelandic central bank kept its interest rate on seven-day term deposits unchanged at 4.25% and said a tight monetary stance remains necessary to contain rapid demand growth.
EASTERN EUROPE
* The Turkish lira recovered from record lows yesterday as the country's central bank offered assurances that it was monitoring markets, following concerns over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plans to take greater control over the country's monetary policy spooked investors.
* Poland's central bank decided to keep the country's reference rate unchanged at 1.50%, saying that level is "conducive" to maintaining the economy on a sustainable growth path and macroeconomic stability.
* PZU SA reported first-quarter net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent company of 640 million Polish zlotys under International Financial Reporting Standards, down from the restated 940 million zlotys a year ago.
* Poland-based debt manager Kruk Spólka Akcyjna is planning to increase bad loans under management at its Italian debt recovery company, Agecredit, to €3 billion by 2021, Reuters reported. Agecredit currently manages €400 million of bad loans mainly on behalf of banks.
* VTB Group reached an agreement with JSC Sogaz regarding the merger of their insurance businesses, news agency TASS reported, citing VTB Bank (PJSC) CEO Andrey Kostin.
* A U.S. District judge sentenced former Türkiye Halk Bankasi AS Deputy General Manager Mehmet Hakan Atilla to 32 months in prison over claims of helping Iran avoid U.S. sanctions, Bloomberg News reported. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Atilla's sentencing was not legitimate or credible, according to Reuters.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: US SEC fines ICBC unit; Thailand holds rate; Malaysia raids former PM's house
Middle East & Africa: Saudi lenders Alawwal, SABB to merge; National Commercial Bank CEO steps down
Latin America: Banxico director quits after cyberattack; Bancolombia's Q1 income slides
North America: JPMorgan's Dimon to stay for 5 more years; Circle to launch dollar-based token
North America Insurance: Oregon discloses proposed '19 ACA rates; PE-backed MGA Orchid exploring sale
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Portuguese bad loans on course to decline further as sales, economy pick up: Analysts are positive about the potential of Portugal's lenders to continue reducing nonperforming loans in 2018, but whether they are able to sustain the fast pace of reductions of 2017 remains to be seen.
Italy's populists rattle banks, investors as radical policies are leaked: "Italexit is back," noted one observer, amid a politics-driven selloff in Italian stocks.
Ageas to get solvency boost if BNP Paribas retains Belgian insurer stake: Ageas' solvency ratio will rise by around 10 percentage points should BNP Paribas decide not to exercise an option to sell its stake in a Belgian insurer that both entities own, according to Ageas' CEO.
Sheryl Obejera, Arno Maierbrugger, Meike Wijers, Esben Svendsen, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Stephanie Salti, Sophie Davies and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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