* PayPal Holdings Inc. agreed to acquire Swedish financial technology company iZettle AB for $2.2 billion, confirming earlier reports. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter, will see iZettle operate as part of PayPal's merchant services offering.
UK AND IRELAND
* Lloyds Banking Group PLC agreed to sell its Irish residential mortgage portfolio to Barclays Bank PLC for a cash consideration of around £4 billion at current exchange rates. Lloyds said its exposure to Ireland will become minimal after the transaction, which is expected to generate roughly 25 basis points of common equity Tier 1 capital upon completion.
* Meanwhile, the review into Lloyds' handling of suspected fraud at HBOS PLC, which it bought in 2009, is unlikely to be completed until late 2019 because of the sheer volume of documents involved, an insider told Reuters.
* New York-based activist investor Edward Bramson is urging Barclays PLC to shut down the bulk of its investment bank's trading operations that does not directly serve corporate clients, as part of a plan to cut costs and improve returns at the lender, insiders told Reuters.
* The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority published its draft guidance to financial companies to ensure that customers are treated fairly when consumer contract terms and conditions are revised.
* Santander UK Group Holdings Plc is interested in applying for Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's £775 million fund, which is designed to encourage competition in the U.K. small and medium-sized business lending market, Bloomberg News reported.
* Meanwhile, RBS lawyers allegedly asked a former employee to destroy all confidential documents in his possession, according to a letter seen by Reuters, making him liable to prosecution from the U.S. Department of Justice, his lawyer claims.
* KBC Bank Ireland Plc CEO Wim Verbraeken told The Times that the Irish unit of Belgian bank KBC Group NV is open to the prospect of a potential merger with Permanent TSB Group Holdings PLC.
* Permira sold an aggregate of 166,057,001 ordinary shares in U.K. financial services firm Just Group Plc at 143 pence apiece, through an accelerated bookbuild. The shares represent about 17.70% of Just Group's issued share capital.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Bruno Pfister, executive chairman of Rothschild Bank AG's wealth management and trust unit, quit his operative role and became member of the supervisory board of the bank, Le Matin reported.
* Neue Helvetische Bank AG will be renamed Helvetische Bank AG, Finews said.
* Thomas Wittwer, head of marketing and sales at Bank Vontobel AG, has been appointed CEO of Vontobel's asset management unit in the U.S., succeeding Philipp Hensler, who is leaving the bank, Finews reported. Charles Falck, COO of Vontobel's U.S. asset management business, takes over as global COO of the bank's asset management division.
FRANCE AND BENELUX
* Groupe BPCE's first-quarter net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent declined 3.7% year over year to €634 million due to regulatory contributions. The French lender's investment bank, Natixis, reported a 15% yearly increase in first-quarter net profit to €323 million, boosted by growth in its asset management and insurance businesses.
* Dutch insurer NN Group NV aims to cut €400 million in costs by 2020, €50 million more than previously announced, Het Financieele Dagblad reported. It has yet to be determined how many jobs will be cut due to the measure.
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
* Manuel Azuaga is to continue permanently as executive president of Unicaja Banco SA despite initial plans for a transfer of powers to the CEO some time after his arrival in 2016, Expansión wrote.
* Portugal's ruling Socialist party said it was willing to work toward legislation requiring banks to reveal the name of customers with large overdue debts if the lenders had received state aid, Jornal de Negócios reported.
* Orion Capital Managers, Apollo Global Management and Oaktree Capital Management are interested in buying the real estate portfolio of Portuguese insurer Fidelidade - Companhia de Seguros SA, Bloomberg reported, according to Jornal de Negócios. The company's properties, most of which are in the city of Porto and the capital of Lisbon, are worth about €450 million.
ITALY AND GREECE
* Italy's Five Star Movement and the League are looking to revamp the country's banking system, a move that could reverse years of national and international regulatory policy, Bloomberg reported, citing a 39-page draft program published by Corriere della Sera. The political parties' plans also include a strategy review for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA. A new government including the far-right League party might keep the bank in public hands and roll back planned branch closures, Reuters reported, citing the party's economic spokesman, Claudio Borghi. The new government will also possibly look to replace Monte dei Paschi CEO Marco Morelli, Borghi said.
* By May-end, the EU should give its green light to the renewal of the GACS state guarantee mechanism used to sell NPLs but then the Treasury Ministry would have to issue a decree to implement the mechanism and extend it to unlikely to pay loans, something a new government is far from certain from doing, MF reported, noting that the mechanism expires in September.
* FabrizioViola, former CEO of Monte dei Paschi and Banca Popolare di Vicenza SpA, kicked off a roadshow for his Prima Lending special purpose acquisition vehicle, aiming to raise some €200 million to buy a financial services company targeting SMEs, MF reported.
* The ECB's Governing Council approved a request by Greece's central bank to lower the limit on emergency liquidity assistance available to Greek lenders by €2.5 billion to €12.2 billion.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Icelandic lender Arion banki hf. disclosed its intention to launch an IPO and listing of its shares on Nasdaq Iceland and Swedish depository receipts, representing its shares, on Nasdaq Stockholm. The listing is expected to take place in the first half of 2018.
EASTERN EUROPE
* VTB Bank (PJSC) reported first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent of 55.6 billion Russian rubles under International Financial Reporting Standards, up from 28.1 billion rubles earned in the same period in 2017.
* Less than 2% of VTB Bank (PJSC)'s assets are accounted for by companies sanctioned by the U.S. in April; management is assessing the sanctions' impact on relations with some of the affected firms, Vedomosti noted.
* The Russian central bank plans to oblige local lenders to provide reporting on the sale of complex financial products offered by third parties from the end of 2018, RBK Daily wrote.
* Meanwhile, the Russian central bank revoked the license of PJSCC Accent Bank, citing the lender's risky model business and noncompliance with Russian legislation against money laundering and financing of terrorism, Banki.ru said.
* Bank BGZ BNP Paribas SA eyes a return on equity of over 10% and a cost-to-income ratio of around 50% under its new 2021 strategy, news agency PAP reported.
* Ilze Znotina, who will become the head of Latvia's anti-money laundering agency from June, wants to improve control of financial crime, and asked local lenders to become more active in spotting and preventing this type of crime, Reuters said.
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong fines Citi unit; Indonesia hikes rate; ANZ to exit Cambodian JV
Middle East & Africa: Israel Discount Bank's Q1 profit up 5.3% YOY; Egypt's central bank holds rates
Latin America: Macri: Argentine currency crisis over; Grupo Aval's Q1 profit rises 1.8%
North America: KS, First Citizens settle; Vista Equity, Thoma Bravo seek billions in funds
North America Insurance: Sen. Graham in another ACA repeal effort; Travelers' cat bond to upsize
NOW FEATURED ON S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
KBC sticks to cost target after Q1 spike, still weighing Central Europe M&A: The Belgian company expects to be able to meet its medium-term cost targets and is still looking for acquisitions in banking in Central Europe, said CEO Johan Thijs.
U.K. Green Bank sale may stunt sustainable finance growth: parliamentary study: The U.K. government's decision to sell its Green Investment Bank may lead to fewer sustainable investments in Britain and preventing the growth of environmentally-friendly financing, the report said.
Sheryl Obejera, Arno Maierbrugger, Meike Wijers, Esben Svendsen, Beata Fojcik, Yael Schrage, Stephanie Salti, Sophie Davies and Helen Popper contributed to this report.
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