Business
UBS only European bank in AI adoption top 10 led by JPMorgan Chase
UBS is now the only European lender among the top 10 banks judged most advanced in adopting artificial intelligence, after HSBC dropped out of the top tier of the Evident AI Index, while JPMorgan Chase widened its lead and North American banks tightened their grip.
Business
UniCredit gets Putin’s approval to sell part of its Russian business
The Italian bank plans to keep its international payments business while selling its other Russian operations. The approval contrasts with Moscow’s recent moves to place several Western companies’ local assets under temporary management.
Europe News
Euroviews. Europe’s payment sovereignty problem is not what we think
Europe's payment sovereignty problem is not what we think, writes Joachim Wuermeling, a former regulator at the European Central Bank (ECB). The real exposure is not the card in your pocket, but the currency behind it. Europe must strengthen the euro’s international role.
Business
UK major banks make first interbank payments with tokenised deposits
Britain's largest banks have completed what the industry describes as the first transactions anywhere using tokenised deposits to move money between one another, a milestone for a blockchain-based form of bank money that the Bank of England favours over privately issued stablecoins.
Economy
China injects over €45 billion into state banks and insurers
China's finance ministry is leading a combined 360 billion yuan (€46.1bn) capital injection into eight state-owned banks and insurers, a coordinated effort to strengthen balance sheets strained by weak lending, low interest rates and government instructions to prop up the stock market.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's biggest bank enters Uzbek market with Davr Bank acquisition
Azerbaijan's largest financial institution, the International Bank of Azerbaijan, is expanding its corporate banking operations by acquiring a 51% controlling stake in Uzbekistan's Davr Bank in a deal valued at $150 million (€128.5m).
Russia
Russians pull billions from banks fearing Kremlin will seize savings for war
Russia's central bank reported that billions of roubles have been withdrawn from banks each month, as Russians pull out cash amid fears of the Kremlin seizing their savings to fund the war in Ukraine amid a deteriorating economy.