* Regions Financial reported higher earnings for the fourth quarter of 2018. SunTrust Banks posted a decline in net income.
* Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the country would consider dropping charges against Goldman Sachs for its role in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. scandal if the investment bank paid $7.5 billion as reparation, Bloomberg News reported.
* Nasdaq is meeting with the board of Norway-based exchange Oslo Børs VPS Holding to discuss a potential purchase, sources told the Financial Times.
* Morgan Stanley is expanding its operations for family offices in Singapore and will hire 50 relationship managers for Singapore and Hong Kong over the next three years, Bloomberg reported.
* JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon is receiving $31.0 million in total compensation for 2018, compared to $29.5 million in 2017.
* In a letter to Wells Fargo President and CEO Timothy Sloan, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has criticized the bank over its alleged practice of charging excessive fees for debit cards and other financial products marketed to students.
* Blockchain technology startup Spring Labs is teaming up with 16 financial technology companies to build ID verification capabilities and cut the cost of issuing financial products.
* W. R. Berkley has abandoned its plan to sell its wholesale brokerage subsidiary, Breckenridge Insurance Group, The Insurance Insider reported.
* Bridgeport, Conn.-based People's United Bank has acquired VAR Technology Finance, an equipment finance company.
* CT Opportunity Partners I and its affiliates bought a 5.95% stake in Downingtown, Pa.-based DNB Financial.
* Argo Group International Holdings expects preliminary pretax catastrophe losses of $32 million for the fourth quarter of 2018.
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