The Eurosystem introduced Pontes, its first initiative to make central bank money usable for tokenised finance, allowing wholesale tokenised asset transactions to be settled with risk‑free central bank money. The platform builds on earlier DLT tests and will be expanded gradually, with full implementation targeted for 2028.
After suffering from massive write‑downs, Volksbank Brawo secured a buyer for its participation in a fitness‑studio chain, allowing the bank to exit the investment as its financial support continues.
SoftBank Group raised its margin loan secured by Arm Holdings shares to $25 billion, adding $5 billion to support its growing artificial intelligence investments.
Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) rejected accusations of wrongdoing linked to its Russian subsidiary and saw its stock price drop significantly.
Volksbank Braunschweig-Wolfsburg needs the largest rescue among rescued branch banks, requiring up to 720 million euros in support. The banking association BVR will also become a shareholder to help stabilize the institution.
Analysts warn that non-performing loan (NPL) volumes at Germany’s biggest banks could exceed €53 billion by 2027, signalling a potential rise in bad debt across the sector.
ByteDance secured a $29.6 billion syndicated loan from a large group of lenders, among them China’s ICBC and UK‑based HSBC, marking one of the largest dollar‑denominated loan transactions of the year.
The shareholders of Raiffeisenbank Plankstetten have abolished the cooperative principle at the bank. The voting result of the general meeting indicates that the dispute surrounding the bank is far from resolved.
French central bank governor Emmanuel Moulin cautioned that the left‑wing presidential candidate’s pledge to reduce state debt by 18% is not feasible and could jeopardize fiscal stability.
The German government is pushing for a German stock market listing in the proposed acquisition of Commerzbank by Italy’s UniCredit, with Finance Minister Klingbeil set to raise the issue in a meeting with UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel.