European Press Roundup: Wells Fargo in Paris Move, Germany Shores Up EU-Unemployment Fund Plans

In Europe today, stocks are down slightly as a global market rebound stalls, the European Union weighs extending the U.K.'s post-Brexit transition period and European banking heads pull out of a Saudi Arabia conference. Read about the above topics on Dow Jones Newswires or WSJ.com.

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Wells Fargo, the third largest U.S. bank by assets, said it would shift its European investment-banking business to Paris following Brexit after applying for an investment-firm license in France. The bank said it still plans to serve U.K. and non-EU customers from London and gave no indication whether the move would lead to job cuts in the U.K. -La Tribune

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is finalizing plans for an EU-wide unemployment insurance scheme ahead of a December summit in Brussels. Under the proposal, member states would contribute to an EU-wide unemployment fund that they can draw on during an economic or jobs crisis, preventing states from having to increase unemployment contributions during a recession and strengthening solidarity between EU members. -Handelsblatt

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development included Cyprus and Malta in its list of 21 countries whose "golden passport" schemes pose a high risk of tax evasion. Cyprus, which has earned around EUR4.8 billion by issuing EU passports to 3,300 foreign nationals since 2013 according to a joint report from Global Witness and Transparency International, is increasingly coming under scrutiny for its investment-for-citizenship scheme. -Cyprus Mail

Greece's Eurobank has struck a deal to sell a EUR2 billion package of nonperforming loans to B2Holding ASA and Waterfall Asset Management under better terms than it obtained for its first NPL package sale. Other Greek banks--namely Alpha Bank, the National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank--are set to sell more NPLs in the near future. -Kathimerini

Germany is the world's third most competitive economy according to the World Economic Forum's "Global Competitiveness Report 2018", ranking only behind the USA and Singapore and placing ahead of perennial WEF favorite Switzerland. Germany scored points for its efforts to digitize its industry, stable economy and highly skilled workforce. -FAZ

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell will not appeal a sanction from the country's stock market regulator over the sale of some Abengoa shares in 2015 when he was a member of the board. -Cinco Dias

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2018 08:09 ET (12:09 GMT)

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