* Second-quarter revenues at major U.S. and European investment banks grew on the back of strong equities trading, which continued to gain traction thanks to market volatility, according to the latest data from business intelligence firm Coalition, part of S&P Global.
* The leader of the European People's Party in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, has launched a campaign to become the next European Commission president.
UK AND IRELAND
* Lloyds Banking Group PLC will create a net 55 jobs as part of a three-year strategy that will see it invest £3 billion in technology, Reuters reported.
* Lloyds has dropped Goldman Sachs from the auction of an £109 billion investment contract, which had been previously managed by Standard Life Aberdeen PLC, citing competition concerns due to the launch of a U.K. retail bank by the U.S. giant, an insider told the Financial Times. The move leaves asset managers BlackRock and Schroders PLC in a two-horse race to secure the mandate.
* U.S.-based CarVal Investors LLC rejected an acquisition offer by Schroders earlier this year, a CarVal executive told Reuters.
* Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC will shut down an additional 54 branches in England and Wales in January 2019, following a review of its operation in the region, resulting in 258 job losses, BBC News reported. RBS noted there will be no further closures until at least 2020.
* Danske Bank A/S is planning to establish a customer protection center in Derry, Northern Ireland, that will conduct due diligence checks on the Danish lender's personal and business clients in Ireland and London, The Irish Times reported. The center, which is expected to create 67 jobs, will help the bank meet regulatory requirements.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Deutsche Bank AG may have helped curb illicit transactions at Danske Bank's branch in Estonia, an insider told Bloomberg News. The source said the German bank began rejecting transactions going through the Danske branch in 2014 and completely stopped its services a year later. Danske is facing accusations of allowing the laundering of billions of dollars through the branch.
* Commerzbank AG will be replaced on Germany's blue-chip DAX index by local payments provider Wirecard AG, effective Sept. 24, according to Deutsche Börse AG.
* In a surprise move, Switzerland's federal council decided that state-owned PostFinance AG will be allowed to offer credit and mortgages to consumers in the future, a business it was so far barred from by the Swiss Postal Act. Tages-Anzeiger called the decision a "bombshell" for the country's financial industry.
* Bahrain-based investment firm Investcorp acquired 40% in Swiss private bank Banque Pâris Bertrand Sturdza, The Financial Times reported. Finews added that founders Pierre Pâris und Olivier Bertrand at the same time bought out their partner Eric Sturdza Group and renamed the bank Banque Pâris Bertrand.
* Mainz, Germany-based North Channel Bk GmbH & Co. KG is under investigation by authorities to determine to what extent it was part of a wide-ranging network of internationally operating tax fraudsters, Handelsblatt wrote.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Dutch parliamentarians have called for the resignation of ING Groep NV's CEO, Ralph Hamers, following the bank's record €775 million fine to settle a probe into anti-money laundering practices, Het Financieele Dagblad reported.
* Scor SE will divide its Scor Global P&C nonlife unit into three divisions to "address the evolving needs of its clients and reinforce its Tier 1 position."
* French insurance broker April SA has announced the completion of the acquisition of a 54% share in La Centrale de Financement, according to L'Agefi. The merger will enable the two companies to realize synergies in the property lending market.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* CaixaBank SA CEO Gonzalo Gortázar said the Spanish lender has no intention of moving back to Catalonia after transferring its headquarters out of the region in October 2017, Europa Press reported.
* Meanwhile, Gortázar also noted no other European bank will be interested in taking over a bank in financial difficulty if Banco Santander SA ends up having to compensate investors affected by the resolution of Banco Popular Español SA, according to El País.
* Banco Popular Español posted a net profit of €85.87 million in the first half of 2018, compared to a loss of €12.22 billion in the same period of the year before, more than a year after the bank was wound down by European authorities and sold to Santander for a symbolic €1.
* Portugal's central bank is set to launch a new online service allowing bank customers to compare commissions charged by financial institutions for 93 different services, Jornal de Negócios reported.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Fitch lowered its outlook on UniCredit SpA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Mediobanca - Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA, Credito Emiliano SpA and BNL to "negative" from "stable," saying the banks would probably be downgraded if Italy's rating is cut, noted Reuters.
* Top Banca Carige SpA shareholder Malacalza Investimenti asked a judge to block rival shareholder Raffaele Mincione from putting forward a list of candidates for a boardroom overhaul, reported Reuters. Malacalza is seeking to replace current CEO Paolo Fiorentino with UBS banker Fabio Innocenzi while a shareholding pact led by Mincione is backing Fiorentino.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* The number of flats sold in Denmark has fallen significantly after tighter rules on mortgages were brought in at the beginning of the year, Børsen reported. The number fell by 7.7% year over year in the second quarter.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Portugal's Millennium BCP and Poland's Alior Bank SA have presented offers to buy Société Générale SA's Polish business Euro Bank SA, Reuters reported, citing sources.
* During its upcoming October meeting, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority could revoke the licenses of asset managers ALTUS Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych SA and Trigon TFI to manage alternative funds, due to proceedings launched against them over their cooperation with collapsed debt collector GetBack SA, Parkiet wrote.
* Bank Pekao SA plans to launch its first branch in the U.K. by the end of 2018, and is considering further international locations to open more branches in the future, Puls Biznesu reported,
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Westpac weighs financial planning arm sale; Anbang taps JPMorgan for Vivat deal
Middle East & Africa: Saudi insurers end merger talks; Bahrain's Investcorp invests in Swiss lender
Latin America: Chile maintains key rate; Costa Rica parliament OKs merger of state-owned banks
North America: Morgan Keegan settles Fairfax suit; Bank of Canada expected to keep rates steady
Global Insurance: Scor splits P&C biz; Enstar withdraws StarStone sale; Gordon flash flooding
Global Markets: Trade worries, emerging-market turmoil rattle global equities
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
New banks lobby UK regulator for level playing field on capital requirements: So-called challenger banks say that compared with larger, established banks, their lack of historic data on loan defaults means they are forced to hold more capital and are forced into riskier lending.
Focus on account switching misses the point of UK's Open Banking, says boss of online-only bank: Consumers should be encouraged to pick and choose financial services from a variety for of providers, Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden told a London event.
Scor CEO slams timing of Covéa offer, defends reinsurer's independence: Denis Kessler told analysts and investors that the timing of the €43-a-share offer, so soon before annual Monte Carlo reinsurance renewal discussions, showed a lack of understanding about the industry.
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