Europe
Banking and finance news from the United Kingdom, European Union, and broader Europe
EBA proposes streamlined capital and liquidity decisions for cross-border banking groups
The European Banking Authority proposed revising supervisory-college procedures for bank-specific capital and liquidity decisions, including an integrated risk report and explicit coverage of Pillar 2 guidance.
UK banks moved tokenised sterling through live customer payments
Banks in the seven-member GBTD initiative used tokenised sterling deposits for two live remortgage completions and a consumer marketplace payment, moving programmable commercial-bank money across a shared platform.
Temasek deepened Italian private-equity exposure with 9% FSI management stake
Singapore’s Temasek acquired 9% of Italian growth-equity manager FSI and committed capital to future funds, deepening a partnership around a platform managing about €5 billion.
Eurozone business loan growth eased to 4.2% in August, ECB reported
Adjusted lending growth to eurozone companies slowed to 4.2% in August from 4.4% in July, while household loan growth held at 3.1%, European Central Bank data showed.
HSBC appointed Alison Platt to board and remuneration committee chair role
HSBC appointed Alison Platt as an independent director from 1 October and plans for her to chair its remuneration committee in February 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
BNP Paribas signed five-year Google Cloud agreement for agentic AI rollout
BNP Paribas will deploy Google Cloud infrastructure and Gemini models under a five-year agreement, with agentic AI agents planned first for corporate credit memos and further applications across sales, trading, research and structuring.
Erste Group planned tender to lift Erste Bank Polska stake to as much as 75%
Erste Group plans to offer about PLN713 per share for up to 26% of Erste Bank Polska, seeking ownership above 50% but no higher than 75%.
Banks become the lender behind private credit as US bank loans to non-banks pass USD 2 trillion
US bank loans to non-bank financial institutions rose 19.2% in a year to USD 2.03 trillion in August 2026, more than twice the pace of total lending, as EU supervisors warn that opaque private credit links could send stress back into banks.
Commerzbank Chief Outlined Three Options for a UniCredit Tie-Up
Commerzbank chief executive Bettina Orlopp outlined three possible routes for a tie-up with UniCredit, including a share-funded sale of German unit HVB to Commerzbank among the structures under discussion.
Banca IFIS Replaced Chief Executive After Bank of Italy Audit
Banca IFIS replaced chief executive Frederik Geertman after a Bank of Italy audit identified control weaknesses, while the lender has 45 days to submit memoranda in a proceeding on additional capital requirements.
Brazil and ECB Begin Study Linking Pix With Europe’s TIPS
Brazil’s central bank and the European Central Bank began assessing whether Pix and TIPS could be interconnected, examining technical, operational, legal and business considerations.
Swiss National Bank holds policy rate at zero as inflation rises
The Swiss National Bank kept its policy rate at 0%, raised its 2026 inflation forecast to 0.7% and projected economic growth between 1.5% and 2%.