Europe
High-earning banks set aside more Covid provisions – BIS
Provisions across 70 banks in H1 2020 were almost quadruple those taken in H2 2019
Callable repack frenzy opens up new options market in Europe
Demand driven mainly by French life insurers looking for alternatives to low-yielding sovereign bonds
Italian job: the real UK stock trading heist
Italy has not been seen as a candidate to pick up business from the UK – until now
UK banks count cost of EU software capital reversal
Average CET1 ratio would fall 29 basis points
Buy-side physical FX clearing at LCH faces scepticism
Lack of clearing mandate and settlement wrangles mean demand for putative service remains weak
All roads lead to Bergamo: Euronext eyes new home for its tech
Market participants fear a “horrible” relocation project and more room for latency arbitrage
Regulatory breaks strengthened EU banks’ CET1 ratios in 2020
In spite of Covid turmoil, top lenders improved their CET1 ratios by around 70bp on average
Swaps users shun cash compensation in LCH Libor switch
Members push for spread adjustment to maintain risk profiles, ignoring warnings of market bifurcation
Euribor fallbacks expose loan market divisions
Consultation reveals splits over one-year transition period and internal transfer pricing models
Model reviews imposed capital charges on top EU banks in Q4
Societe Generale incurred a -36bp hit to its CET1 ratio due to Trim
Softer US NSFR could skew global repo pricing
US banks benefit from Treasury repo exemption, while EU banks report only end-quarter ratios
EU banks count capital benefits of new software treatment
Deutsche Bank reaps 43bp gross benefit
A European watchdog with more bark than bite
The European Central Bank’s soft approach could be storing up trouble for the future
UK snuffs out hopes of end to midpoint trading ban
Financial Conduct Authority resists calls to diverge from EU’s tick size regime
ING takes capital hit for lowballing loan-loss provisions
NPE coverage ratio fell over Q4
People moves: new CRO at LCH, changes at Natixis investment bank, and more
Latest job changes across the industry
State guarantees saved UniCredit €8bn in RWAs through 2020
Italian lender has €20.8 billion of government-backed loans on its books
Op risk data: Chronic corruption charges cost Deutsche dear
Also: Wells Fargo fee fight; Nasdaq queers Emir reg; Covid keeps AML fines in line. Data by ORX News
Synthetic risk transfer plumps SocGen’s capital buffer
Risk transfer and CET1 relief smooth out add-on for model risk at the French bank
Solvency ratios of EU life insurers continued to fall in Q3
In contrast, the median capital ratio of groups and non-life firms increased
Euribor tweaks to yield lower fix, bigger pool of usable trades
Methodology changes to raise share of Level 1 and 2 submissions and reduce reliance on Level 3
Covid hikes BNP Paribas’ cost of risk to decade high
Loan-loss provisions for 2020 totalled €5.7 billion
Acadiasoft brings IM standards in-house with Quaternion buy
Deal will help data standardisation efforts and cut outsourcing risk in Simm calculation service
CCP open access will be ‘integral’ part of Mifid review
EC official says politicians will need to decide whether to further delay open access