It’s never quiet in UK banking these days. In a fitting episode of handbags at dawn, Ana Botín, the chief executive of Santander UK, reneged on an agreement to buy 316 branches from RBS. The provisional sale agreement had been signed in the summer of 2010 when António Horta-Osório was running Santander UK. Santander wanted to expand its penetration of the small-business market and was prepared to pay £1.65 billion to do so.

Ban could force up borrowing costs; Market liquidity already squeezed

Pension plans are on the verge of a big move into riskier, illiquid investments to deliver promised returns; they might be better advised to curtail those promises.

A wave of lower tier 2 issuance will not deal with Russian banks’ strained capital levels.

Moody’s change of heart averts high-yield disruption in Europe… for now.

Tucker supports Liikanen proposal; Bank chairmen split on compensation

Domestic political concerns continue to stall progress on solving the euro crisis. Fortunately, there are more propitious financial indicators elsewhere in the world.

The benefits of lower Brazilian interest rates are not reaching the bank customers who need them most. Only greater competition between banks will alter this.

Falling birth rates and an ageing population should force Asia’s financial institutions to face up to the possibility of a pensions crunch.

Barclays shows advantage of scale; Failure of RBS disposal too late for NBNK

Pandit and Havens used to work at Morgan Stanley. In fact, at one time, Pandit was president of the firm. As James Gorman struggles with John Mack’s legacy, a wild thought crosses my mind. Might Pandit one day return to run his alma mater? Over at Morgan Stanley, Gorman is facing the third anniversary of his ascension to the chief executive throne. And the going has not been easy.

The BBA is holding worthy-sounding debates on regaining trust. Instead they should be following an example from 16th-century Germany.

US bank earnings beat forecasts; NIMs raise concerns about profitability

JPMorgan has backed its subsidiary with balance sheet and resources, and although the country’s economic growth has slowed the bank’s headcount has continued to rise. CEO Cláudio Berquó says that rather than becoming over-committed, the bank’s new capabilities are enabling it to adapt and build new business.

The strategies and dimensions of Gulf sovereign wealth funds are an arcane subject made more mysterious by the lack – apart from Abu Dhabi’s fund – of published annual reports. Euromoney pieces together a picture of their structure from the fragments of information available.

Bond markets would suggest Nigeria’s future is assured. Progress has indeed been made in banking, sovereign finances and power-sector reform. But big challenges remain, as this autumn’s electricity privatizations amply illustrate.

Greg Smith’s memoir about his career at Goldman Sachs could have been subtitled ‘The curious incident of the dog that didn’t bark’.

There is no clearer sign of the strength of investor interest in emerging markets than the scramble for African sovereign bonds, but how long can it last?

When BNP Paribas announced its adaptation plan last year the corporate and investment banking unit was squarely in the firing line. Revenues are down but profitability is resilient – something that CIB head Alain Papiasse argues makes it better positioned than its peers.

Private equity groups see the country as a rare growth market, particular the consumer sector. The only difficulty is fending off competition from other funds – plus finding reasonable valuations and owners willing to give up control.

As equity markets founder and Asia’s high-net-worth individuals become more sophisticated, the region’s private banking bid for bonds is driving the international debt markets. Could Asia’s rich professionals be the new Belgian dentists?

As banks in the UK, Ireland and Spain accelerate their disposals of non-core loan portfolios, one European country is conspicuous by its absence – Germany.

For more than a decade, Europe was all about the single market – and that included bonds. As bank lending dries up, that’s starting to change. After years of neglect, local capital markets across Europe are on the rise once again as national governments seek to kick-start growth and plug the yawning corporate funding gap.

The sudden urgency among policymakers to proceed with European banking union stems from a dawning realization of the extent to which national regulators have promoted an opposite response to bank deleveraging: trapping bank capital and liquidity inside their borders to conserve local credit availability.

The world's biggest bank-investor calls for an internationally negotiated rule that enforces penalties against institutions that experience progressive capital shortfalls.