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Legg Mason to pay $64.2M to settle probe; Wells Fargo sues team of ex-advisers

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Legg Mason to pay $64.2M to settle probe; Wells Fargo sues team of ex-advisers

The White House has nominated Elad Roisman, chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, to be the next commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Pensions & Investments reports. Current SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar is expected to leave the regulatory agency by July.

Legg Mason Inc. is set to pay $64.2 million to settle the U.S. Department of Justice's probe into the asset management firm's involvement in a Libyan bribery scheme. The settlement includes a penalty of about $32.6 million and a disgorgement of about $31.6 million.

Banking technology firm Black Knight Inc. has acquired HeavyWater, a provider of artificial intelligence and machine learning services focused on the financial services industry.

U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP offered to buy United Arab Emirates-based Abraaj Group Ltd.'s private equity business for $125 million, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. U.S. real estate and investment management firm Colony NorthStar Inc. recently ended talks to acquire a majority stake in the struggling buyout firm's fund management unit.

Coinbase Inc. is entering the Japanese virtual currency market. The U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange operator has opened an office in Japan and is working on its business registration with Japan's Financial Services Agency.

In banking news, Wells Fargo & Co. is suing a team of former investment advisers for allegedly stealing trade secrets, engaging in unfair competition and breaching contract and fiduciary duty, On Wall Street reports. Investment advisers Nancy Hurst, Steven Battel, Bruce Battel and Robert Yevchak — who collectively managed $300 million at Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC — allegedly took more data than allowed under the Broker Protocol when they left the firm in April, according to the report.

Australian authorities charged Citigroup Inc. unit Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Ltd. with criminal cartel offenses related to a share placement by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in 2015. Criminal charges were laid against John McLean, Citi's head of capital markets origination for Australia and New Zealand; Itay Tuchman, previously head of Citi Australia's global markets division and current head of global foreign exchange trading; and Stephen Roberts, former country head of Citi Australia, Bloomberg News reports. Citigroup was one of the underwriters of the share issue.

In other parts of the world

Asia Pacific: Japan's Daido Life in Australian M&A; Fitch downgrades Punjab National Bank

Europe: UK raises £2.5B from RBS stake sale; SocGen settles US probes for $1.3B

Middle East & Africa: Cerberus bids for Abraaj's PE unit; Deutsche Bank to scale back in South Africa

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, Hang Seng gained 0.31% to 31,093.45, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.28% to 22,539.54.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.33% to 7,715.60, while the Euronext 100 went up 0.55% to 1,070.93.

On the macro front

The Redbook, the US Services Purchasing Managers' Index, the Institute For Supply Management nonmanufacturing index and the Labor Department's JOLTS report are due out today.

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