* Spanish authorities have arrested the leader of a group of cyber criminals behind the malware attacks known as Carbanak and Cobalt, according to the European Union's agency for law enforcement cooperation, Europol. Since 2013, the cyberattacks, which have struck banks in more than 40 countries, have caused more than €1 billion in losses for the financial industry.
* A new EU-wide legislation could make the ECB's guidelines on how much capital banks must set aside to cover unpaid loans "redundant," according to the regulator's supervisory board chair, Danièle Nouy, Reuters wrote.
UK AND IRELAND
* The U.K.'s opposition Labour Party said it will propose legislation to prevent Britain's departure from the EU without an agreement with the bloc, as it demanded that Parliament be given the final say on the government's Brexit deal.
* Harry Keogh, the Coutts & Co. banker at the center of a harassment and inappropriate behavior issue, has resigned from the bank, a spokeswoman for parent company Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC told Reuters.
* UK Financial Investments Ltd. Chairman James Leigh-Pemberton is confident that the British bank ownership vehicle will be able to sell £3 billion worth of Royal Bank of Scotland shares held by the government in the next financial year, despite uncertainty over a U.S. legal case, the Financial Times wrote.
* The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority is considering banning certain charges for pension transfers, as it published new rules on transfer advice to help consumers make informed decisions for their individual circumstances.
* Bank of Ireland Group Plc CEO Francesca McDonagh is looking to reduce the Irish lender's management and executive team by 15%, a move that could lead to redundancies of up to 200 employees across Ireland and the U.K., sources told The Irish Times.
* Deutsche Bank AG is looking to replace CEO John Cryan in the wake of intensifying boardroom row over the German investment bank's future and distress at its performance, The Times of London reported. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Vice Chairman Richard Gnodde was approached for the top post, but turned the offer down.
* Commerzbank AG said its 2018 revenue will be "slightly" below 2017 levels due to lower exceptional items, Bloomberg News wrote. "Any acceleration of the improvements in income and earnings we are aiming for in the medium term, which would require a normalization of the yield curve and rising rates at the short end of the curve in particular, is unlikely in 2018," the bank said.
* Germany-based Bremer Kreditbank AG offered €24.86 per share in cash to squeeze out minority shareholders in Oldenburgische Landesbank AG. The offer is pending the approval of Oldenburgische Landesbank's annual general meeting May 11.
* Units of Swiss Re AG have filed an application with the Delaware Department of Insurance to take control of a U.S. life insurance subsidiary of Mapfre SA.
* Sam Wisnia, head of rates and foreign exchange at Deutsche Bank AG, has departed to join Edward Eisler's $2.6 billion macro hedge fund Eisler Capital, insiders told Bloomberg News.
* Bâloise Holding AG reported full-year 2017 profit attributable to shareholders of CHF548.0 million, up 2.5% from 2016.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Dutch insurer Onderlinge Waarborgmaatschappij CZ groep Zorgverzekeraar UA expects healthcare premiums to rise sharply as insurers are running out of buffers, Het Financieele Dagblad reported.
* Axa CEO Thomas Buberl told the Financial Times that it may take the French insurer more than a year to convince investors that its proposed deal to acquire XL Group Ltd is a positive move.
* Edmond de Rothschild has taken over investment firm Kennet Partners, and the companies plan to raise €250 million in funds from international and French investors, Les Echos reported.
BNP Paribas SA has hired Bertrand Valet as managing director and head of financial sponsors coverage in continental Europe, l’Agefi wrote. He previously worked as a managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* The ECB denied a request from the two main shareholders of Millennium BCP seeking to raise the number of directors on the bank's board to 19 from 17, Economia Online reported.
* Banco Santander SA agreed to sell Banco Popular Español SA's 49% stake in WiZink Bank SA to Värde Partners Inc., which already owns 51% of the company. The agreement will also see Banco Popular and Banco Santander Totta SA purchase the debit and credit card business of WiZink.
* Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA paid €9.81 billion in taxes in 2017, up 5% from the previous year, Europa Press writes. Of last year's total, €2.7 billion was paid in Spain.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Emergency central bank funding to Greek banks declined 13.5% to €15.05 billion in February from €17.4 billion in January, according to data from the Bank of Greece, Reuters reported.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* David Sonnek has left SEB Bank Group to join Industrifonden as the Sweden-based venture capital firm's new CEO. Sonnek will replace Anders Slettengren on June 20, reported Digital Di.
* Danish regulators have finalized MREL, or minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities, for Danske Bank A/S, Jyske Bank A/S and Sydbank A/S, which are three of the country's designated systemically important financial institutions, wrote Børsen.
* Finland's banking unions have reached a three-year binding agreement with employer organizations, averting the threat of strikes, reported Helsingin Sanomat.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Otkritie Financial Corp. Bank CEO Mikhail Zadornov was named chairman of the newly appointed board at B&N Bank, while Sergey Shevchenko was appointed chairman of B&N's management board. Both Otkritie and B&N Bank were bailed out by the Russian central bank in 2017, and are set to merge in the future.
* Getin Noble Bank SA acquired 75.8 million shares of Getin Holding SA, equivalent to a 9.99% stake in the company, Puls Biznesu said. Polish businessman Leszek Czarnecki is a key shareholder in both companies.
* JSC Capital Bank Kazakhstan has decided to increase its authorized capital by 3 billion Kazakh tenge through the issuance of new shares that will be purchased by shareholder Orifdzhan Shadiev, Kapital.kz reported.
* Ceská exportní banka a.s. appointed Jaroslav Výborný chairman of the lender's management board, replacing Karel Bureš, E15 reported.
* MBank SA completed the sale of an organized part of its mFinance unit, Rzeczpospolita reported. The roughly 520 million Polish zlotys deal was agreed in November 2017.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Goldman Sachs in Indian M&A talks; Australian wealth manager files for IPO
Middle East & Africa: Abraaj mulls unit stake sale; Hapoalim Q4'17 profit up; Bank of Ghana cuts rate
Latin America: Indusval's loss expands in Q4'17; Banrisul prepares for card unit's IPO
North America: Goldman Sachs targets 1,000 new i-banking clients; 2 Illinois banks strike deal
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Brexit fears hit UK financial firms, sentiment falls to post-crisis low: survey: Confidence among U.K.-based financial services firms has fallen in eight of the past nine quarters marking the longest period of gloom since the global financial crisis as Brexit uncertainty remains a challenge for the sector, a new survey showed.
Italian shares fall as populist government becomes more likely: Five Star and the League have taken a step towards forming a government.
IMF's Lagarde proposes 'rainy day fund' to help struggling eurozone countries: Christine Lagarde outlined proposals that would see countries in the currency union each contributing 0.35% of national GDP annually to a fund that could be tapped by struggling economies.
Atif Hussain, Ed Meza, Meike Wijers, Gerard O'Dwyer, Beata Fojcik, Heather O'Brian, Stephanie Salti, Praxilla Trabattoni and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.
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