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ECB holds rates; Swiss Raiffeisen chair resigns; ING boss pay hike draws ire

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ECB holds rates; Swiss Raiffeisen chair resigns; ING boss pay hike draws ire

* The ECB maintained its main refinancing rate at 0.00%, the marginal lending facility at 0.25% and the deposit facility at negative 0.40%. The central bank also removed a promise to buy more bonds if necessary from its policy guidance, taking a step toward withdrawing its historic monetary stimulus after boosting its growth forecasts, but said monetary policy needed to stay loose to ensure that inflation moved toward its 2% target.

* Meanwhile, the ECB will ask the European Court of Justice to clarify if individual security measures imposed by Latvia's government on local central bank chief Ilmars Rimsevics, who is facing bribery allegations, comply with EU laws, Reuters reported, citing ECB President Mario Draghi. Rimsevics was not able to attend the ECB's policy meeting yesterday after Latvian authorities banned the official from leaving the country.

* The EU will create a financial technology laboratory to promote investment in the sector as part of its plans to build a capital markets union and a digital single market, the European Commission said. The EU executive arm will also set out rules for crowdfunding and is proposing an EU license that would allow crowdfunding platforms to operate across the EU and start-ups to raise financing across the bloc.

* Separately, the EU will look into lowering capital charges for banks with eco-friendly investments as it works to establish a clear classification system for "green" activities. The European Commission will outline a proposed taxonomy in May that will define what investments are sustainable as part of an action plan that will also see the creation of labels for financial products.

* The European financial sector is well-prepared to deal with a hard Brexit should the U.K. leave the EU without a transitional agreement in place to maintain access to the single market, European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said.

* Financial messaging services provider Swift completed a so-called proof-of-concept test using distributed ledger technology, or blockchain, to reconcile cross-border payments between the accounts of 34 participating banks, the Financial Times reported. Swift said the test went "extremely well" but noted that further progress is needed on the technology itself.

UK AND IRELAND

* The U.S. Federal Reserve Board has terminated its cease and desist order against Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and some of its subsidiaries. The July 2011 enforcement action required RBS to strengthen board and senior management oversight and come up with a plan to improve branches' compliance with all applicable provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering requirements.

* HSBC Holdings Plc looks to invest more in Germany, Chairman Mark Tucker told German newspaper Handelsblatt, noting that Britain's exit from the EU offered opportunities to examine growth opportunities in certain countries.

* The full-year 2017 earnings results of the U.K.'s largest banks support S&P Global Ratings' stable view of the country's banking industry, the agency said in a report, noting that it "now views it as more likely that earnings will prove to be a useful first line of defense in the event of economic weakness or political disruption."

* Shawbrook Group Plc named John Callender its new chairman, effective immediately, replacing Iain Cornish.

* JTC Group Holdings Ltd. is expected to price its shares at 290 pence each in its planned London IPO, valuing the Jersey-based financial services firm at around £310 million, an insider told Reuters. The IPO could potentially be announced as early as today.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* Johannes Rüegg-Stürm stepped down as chairman of Raiffeisen Schweiz Genossenschaft, effective immediately. The resignation, which comes amid criminal proceedings against former CEO Pierin Vincenz and the ongoing Finma proceedings against Raiffeisen Switzerland, is an "important step" towards maintaining the bank's credibility, the bank said.

* Allianz Group has appointed Iván de la Sota to its board of management as chief business transformation officer, effective April 1. The new management board division will support Allianz entities in exploiting business opportunities arising from a growing demand for digital insurance and investment solutions among all customer groups.

* Partners Group AG's board will propose the election of Steffen Meister as chairman during the company's May 9 annual general meeting. Meister will replace Peter Wuffli, who has been chairman since 2014. The board will also propose Wuffli to become vice chairman.

* SolarisBank AG has raised €56.6 million in its series B funding round and gained four new investors. In addition to renewed investments from Bertelsmann subsidiary Arvato Financial Solutions and Japan's SBI Group, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Visa Inc., ABN Amro Group NV's Digital Impact Fund and Lakestar also joined the two-year-old Berlin-based banking platform's circle of investors.

FRANCE AND BENELUX

* Crédit Mutuel Group's 2017 net profit fell 6.8% to €3.05 billion on an exceptional tax charge as it called on a breakaway regional bank, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa SACC, to conduct a fair and open process in its efforts to split from the Crédit Mutuel parent group.

* Netherlands-based ING Groep NV's supervisory board proposed to give CEO Ralph Hamers a 50% salary increase, angering the country's politicians and unions, which described the raise as "excessive" and "absurd," Reuters reported. Shareholders are set to vote on the proposal at the group's April 23 shareholders' meeting.

* French insurers have set out proposals to create a universal pension product, Les Echos reported. The envisioned product will replace the different savings products currently in the market and bearing different characteristics.

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

* Portugal's largest listed bank Millennium BCP and U.S. private equity firm Lone Star are among 15 companies interested in buying Banco Caixa Geral SA, the Spanish unit of Portuguese state-run lender Caixa Geral de Depósitos SA, Jornal de Negócios reported. The deadline for nonbinding offers to be submitted is March 19.

* A group of Novo Banco SA bondholders said they wanted the head of Portugal's central bank to be publicly questioned to uncover the damage caused by the decision to transfer back bonds from Novo Banco to failed lender Banco Espírito Santo SA in 2015, which led to the bondholders losing more than €1 billion, Reuters wrote.

ITALY AND GREECE

* Investors took up 83.1% of Credito Valtellinese SpA's €700 million new share sale, all dailies including MF wrote. The lender currently has agreements for certain investors to take on unsold shares for €55 million, bringing the total to 91% of the target, or €636.6 million, Reuters noted.

* Iccrea Holding SpA's internal asset quality review brings forward the priority of the reduction of NPLs, which total a gross of some €20 billion, through a possible sale, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

* The ECB's Governing Council approved a Bank of Greece request to reduce the limit on emergency liquidity assistance available to Greek banks by €3.2 billion to €16.6 billion.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Institutional Shareholder Services has urged Nordea Bank AB (publ) shareholders to support a decision by the bank's board to move its headquarters from Stockholm to Helsinki when they meet March 15 for the company's annual general meeting, Dagens Industri wrote. The proxy advisory firm also wants shareholders to vote against the re-election of Björn Wahlroos as chair as it feels that he already holds an excessive number of directorships, Helsingin Sanomat said.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Latvia intends to introduce tighter bank controls after one of its largest lenders, ABLV Bank AS, was recently accused by U.S. authorities of money laundering and breaching sanctions on North Korea, Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis told Reuters.

* Bank Zachodni WBK SA's supervisory board adopted a resolution approving the establishment of a mortgage unit called BZ WBK Bank Hipoteczny, news agency PAP reported. The establishment of the new unit still needs to be approved by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Asia-Pacific: QBE sells stake in Australian broker; Bank Central Asia FY'17 profit rises 13%

Middle East & Africa: Sanlam in $1B Morocco deal; KCB banks on mobile payments; Tunisian dinar warning

Latin America: Finansur asset freeze lifted; Grupo Sura sells Chile annuity biz

North America: More tweaks on Dodd-Frank rewrite bill; Goldman Sachs begins Brexit move

North America Insurance: Cigna to buy Express Scripts for $67B; court orders Berkshire unit to pay $68M

NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Data Dispatch EMEA: UK bank investors eye long-term value amid ongoing legal woes: Three of the U.K.'s "big four" banks have major unresolved fines or allegations of misconduct hanging over them, but investors have their eye on long-term value.

Aviva will return unused capital for purchases to shareholders, CEO says: "Just because we have a large pile of cash does not mean it is burning a hole in our pocket," Mark Wilson told journalists during a full-year 2017 earnings call.

Sheryl Obejera, Ed Meza, Meike Wijers, Gerard O'Dwyer, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Stephanie Salti, Praxilla Trabattoni and Helen Popper contributed to this report.

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