* The European Commission is considering requiring banks in the EU to provision more capital against new loans that could turn sour, Reuters reported, citing a draft document. The proposals would apply to loans originated from today and will not cover banks' existing bad loans.
* European Securities and Markets Authority Chair Steven Maijoor said European banks will have to find replacements for the Euro Interbank Offered Rate and the Euro Overnight Index Average by 2020, as the ECB looks for benchmarks that will be harder to manipulate, Reuters reported.
* The Council of the European Union added the Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis and the U.S. Virgin Islands to its blacklist of tax havens while removing Bahrain, the Marshall Islands and Saint Lucia. Meanwhile, the bloc's finance ministers adopted new measures to tackle tax avoidance by forcing banks and accountants to report aggressive tax schemes that shift profits to countries where taxes are low, Reuters wrote.
UK AND IRELAND
* Prudential Plc said it intends to demerge M&G Prudential, its U.K. and Europe business, resulting in two separately listed companies with different investment characteristics and opportunities. M&G Prudential also announced the sale of £12.0 billion of its shareholder annuity portfolio to Rothesay Life Plc. Separately, Prudential reported full-year 2017 net profit of £2.39 billion, up from £1.92 billion a year ago.
* Co-operative Bank Plc posted full-year 2017 group profit of £232.7 million, compared to a loss of £418.7 million a year earlier.
* The Office for Budget Responsibility, the British government's independent forecaster, estimated that the U.K.'s financial settlement with the EU would cost £37.1 billion, with £28.0 billion falling due between 2019-2020 and 2022-2023.
* The British House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee said UK Green Investment Bank Ltd. failed to live up to original ambitions and there is now no guarantee that it ever will, as its green intentions are not sufficiently protected. The committee said it is unclear whether the bank, which was sold to Australia-based Macquarie Group Ltd., will continue to play a role in meeting the U.K.'s climate change goals.
* U.K.-based Tandem Bank Ltd. will acquire money management application Pariti.
* Alex Pabon, a former Barclays Plc trader convicted in June 2016 for rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate, lost an appeal against his conviction.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Société Générale SA entered into exclusive talks to acquire Commerzbank AG's equities, markets and commodities division after it submitted a more attractive offer than rival bidder Goldman Sachs Group Inc., insiders told Handelsblatt.
* Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission fined Deutsche Bank AG and its unit Deutsche Securities Asia Ltd. HK$8.3 million for the German bank's failure to meet short position reporting requirements and the unit's negligence in segregating client monies within a prescribed timeline.
* Deutsche Bank's asset management division DWS warned in its IPO prospectus that the market price of its shares could be adversely affected by investors' potential lack of familiarity with its KGaA governance structure, which gives less control to outside investors, the Financial Times wrote.
* Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale is tightening its lending criteria for the sectors of oil and gas, mining, power plants, defense and other high-risk industries and will decline financing of projects that are likely to cause serious environmental or social harm in the future.
* Credit Suisse Group AG CEO Tidjane Thiam told Finanz und Wirtschaft that he has no intention of stepping down after his three-year turnaround plan for the bank ends this year.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* The ECB and French regulator ACPR have rejected the legal framework proposed by Crédit Mutuel Arkéa SACC to separate itself from the rest of Crédit Mutuel Group, Les Echos reported.
* Rabobank subsidiary FGH Bank NV agreed to a contemplated sale of a part of its loan portfolio with an outstanding balance of about €1.3 billion to Dutch mortgage provider RNHB BV. The deal is expected to take place in the second quarter.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Greek lenders Alpha Bank AE, Eurobank Ergasias SA, National Bank of Greece SA and Piraeus Bank SA will all increase their provisions for bad loans to comply with the new IFRS 9 accounting standards, Bloomberg News reported. The banks have reported an aggregate burden from IFRS 9 of €5.25 billion, with Piraeus Bank taking the largest hit of €1.6 billion.
* Alpha Bank entered into a binding agreement with B2Holding ASA for the sale of a retail unsecured nonperforming loans portfolio with a total outstanding balance of €3.7 billion for a consideration of €90 million.
* Italy's highest administrative court rejected an appeal by Barents Reinsurance against the sale of Banca Intermobiliare to Attestor Capital, Reuters reported. Barents may still lodge an appeal with Italy's highest court.
* Bermuda-based Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. acquired Italian specialty insurer Ariscom to boost its presence in continental Europe.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Denmark-based Jyske Bank A/S will acquire full ownership of Nordjyske Bank A/S for about 3.12 billion Danish kroner.
* Jesper Hjulmand will replace Jørgen Huno Rasmussen as chairman of TryghedsGruppen smba, which owns 60% of insurance group Tryg A/S, according to Børsen.
EASTERN EUROPE
* The Russian central bank intends to introduce a new approach on the assessment of bank loan collaterals to simulate local lenders to give priority to assessing the quality of loans and borrowers, rather than the value of collateral. Kommersant noted that the changes are aimed at solving the problem of unlawful withdrawal of assets taken into collateral by banks.
* The shareholders of JSCB RosEvroBank (JSC) and PJSC Sovcombank agreed to merge the two lenders, a move that will result in creating a top-three private bank in Russia with assets worth more than 1 trillion Russian rubles.
* The Russian central bank extended a moratorium imposed on the claims of VVB Bank's creditors by up to three months.
* Slovenian reinsurer Pozavarovalnica Sava dd acquired a 100% stake in Macedonian pension fund NLB Nov Penziski fond AD Skopje from Nova Ljubljanska banka dd and NLB Banka AD Skopje after securing all necessary regulatory approvals.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: ICBC NY branch faces regulatory action; Chinese wealth fund exits Blackstone
Middle East & Africa: Bahrain exits EU tax haven blacklist; Angola issuing bonds to tackle bad debts
Latin America: Davivienda's Q4 profit tumbles; Cade expected to OK Itaú-XP deal
North America: BofA CEO paid 250x more than median worker; Warburg Pincus in $370M Vietnam deal
North America Insurance: Conservative groups oppose ACA bailouts; GEICO changes way it sets NY premiums
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Integration costs, Brexit cast shadows on TP Icap's post-merger results: The U.K. broker-dealer said its response to Brexit would require more investment and likely lead to the fragmentation of its currently centralized model.
UBS warns against German, Japanese equities exposure as trade war fears loom: Although a global trade war is not very likely, worried investors should avoid over-exposure to export-oriented equity regions such as Germany and Japan, UBS said.
Leo Magno, Arno Maierbrugger, Danielle Rossingh, Esben Svendsen, Beata Fojcik, Heather O'Brian, Brian McCulloch, Sophie Davies and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.
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