Shares of Deutsche Bank hit a record low Monday, down nearly 3%, after UBS downgraded the German lender’s stock to a “sell” rating from “neutral.” Pointing to tough external events and the low interest rate environment, UBS slashed its price target for Deutsche from 7.80 euros ($7.45) to 5.70 euros.

The Royal Bank of Scotland reported a net profit of £707 million ($912.2 million) for its first quarter on Friday, down 11% from £792 million over the same period last year. Read More...

Bancorp’s first quarter earnings matched analyst expectations.The bank holding company’s revenue, however, slightly missed estimates. The company’s first-quarter earnings came in at $1 a share, in line with what analysts polled by FactSet had expected.It was nevertheless higher than prior year’s $5.47 billion. The financial company’s net interest income for the quarter was $3.3 billion, an increase of 2.8% over the year-ago quarter.

With the Fed announcing plans to keep the Fed Funds rate at the current level for the foreseeable future, it hampered banks to a degree. When interest rates are rising, the spread grows between what banks charge on loans and what they pay on deposits.After that meeting, the KRE fell over 11% in three days. One regional bank that caught my eye was BB&T (NYSE: BBT).

After years of failed turnaround attempts, the once dominant German financial institution Deutsche Bank is currently negotiating government-backed merger talks with Commerzbank AG. This move arose in the wake of massive job cuts, political turbulence, a weakening European economy, U.S. probes into its dealings with Donald Trump and a herculean integration – not to mention skeptical clients and investors. Further, the persistent struggle of both banks to restore revenue growth, along with an economic slowdown that has pushed back expectations for higher earnings, have added to the urgency of the merger. Problem is, this merger could risk as many as 30,000 jobs. Formal talks will only start after the government signals its non-interference in the way of necessary job and cost cuts.The merger of these two century-old entities, if successful, will have a combined market value of about 25 billion euros and would give birth to Europe’s fourth-largest lender with assets worth ~1

At a time when the Fed is considering freezing rate hikes for the year, market watchers and fund managers think banks could be a great investment option.These include a strong economy and the prospect of higher inflation and a wider rate spread. READ MORE...

In spite of a challenging fourth quarter, Deutsche Bank declared its first full-year net profit since 2014. The German lender has been facing series of setbacks owing to fines, several failed restructuring attempts, and money-laundering allegations.The profit number of 341 million euros ($390 million) for 2018 failed to beat market consensus, with a Reuters poll of analysts predicting a figure of 461 million euros. But there is still a bright side.

There are “lots of indications” that some managers discussed “the reputational risks” of Deutsche Bank’s involvement in a share-trading scheme that is the subject of Germany’s biggest post-war fraud investigation, according to a conclusion in one of five internal audits seen by Reuters.READ MORE...

Several locations in Frankfurt - including the headquarter - of Deutsche Bank were raided by 170 police officers and tax investigators on Thursday as part of a money laundering investigation. Authorities are probing into whether the multinational bank with German headquarter has a role in helping clients set up offshore companies in tax havens, and whether the bank failed to report illegal/suspicious transactions.The investigation is related to 2016 investigation of the Panama Papers. The main suspects of the Deutsche Bank probe are two of its employees who were not identified beyond their ages ,50 and 46.  "As far as we are concerned, we have already provided the authorities with all the relevant information regarding [the] Panama Papers," Deutsche Bank said in a statement to reporters.

Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt were raided by Germany's public prosecutor for alleged money laundering.In September, Germany's financial regulator had ordered the bank to take action to prevent so-called terrorism financing and money laundering.

The Fed’s proposed design is based on broad range of factors including a bank’s asset size, exposure to foreign markets and off-balance sheet activities and other aspects.  Here are some of the highlights of the Fed's new proposed rules, which might be subject to further revisions - Banks with $250 billion to $700 billion in assets could see their required liquidity coverage ratio (i.e.They would continue to face annual stress tests, though. - Institutions holding assets between $100 billion and $250 billion might no longer have to meet regulatory liquidity buffers, and such banks can expect the Fed’s stress tests at a frequency of every two years (versus every year).

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co., Ltd. is reportedly planning to sell off its holding in Deutsche Bank. Holding nearly 8% voting rights in Deutsche, HNA plans to offload its entire stake according to people familiar with the matter (as reported by CNN).The news comes amidst Deutsche Bank’s struggles to revive its prospects following three years of losses. In recent years, HNA has been known for its purchases of massive stakes in major U.S. and European companies.

Deutsche Bank will move a large part of its euro clearing business from London to Frankfurt. For a long time, London has been a major hub of euro clearing - trading of financial products priced in euro – with the city accounting for  around 75% of the transactions.Deutsche Bank’s announcement could spark concerns over whether other banks would follow suit, thereby pointing towards a potential headwind to London (and advantage to European cities) resulting from Brexit. According to a 2016 report commissioned by the London Stock Exchange, the United Kingdom could lose up to 83,000 jobs over seven years if clearing operations move out of London and into the eurozone.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that Deutsche Bank (DB) has agreed to pay $75 million in fines for its mishandling of pre-release American Depository Receipts (ADRs).Deutsche Bank did not agree with the SEC's findings nor did they explicitly admit guilt, but they did agree to pay the fine.