Weekly Global News Wrap: Santander to buy TSB; BPER increases BPSO

And India plans to withdraw $11.7b of excess liquidity worth from the banking system.

From CNBC: 
Santander, Spain’s largest lender, said that it has agreed to buy British lender TSB for $3.6b (£2.65b) from Sabadell in an all-cash deal.

The transaction will generate a return on invested capital of more than 20%, Santander said. This brings its return on tangible equity in the UK from 11% in 2024 to 16% by 2028.

Santander expanded into the UK through its 2004 purchase of Abbey National. But profitability of its UK branch has reportedly faltered, with pre-tax profit down by an annual 38% last year, CNBC reported.

From Reuters:
Italian lender BPER has increased its bid for smaller rival Popolare di Sondrio (BPSO) to 5.44 billion euros ($6.39 billion), the bank said on 3 July 2025.

The bid represents a premium of 3% based on Popolare di Sondrio (BPSO) shares' last closing price, valuing the bank at 5.44 billion euros, according to Reuters' calculation.

From Bloomberg:
India’s central bank plans to withdraw excess liquidity worth $11.7b (IND1t) from the banking system via seven-day variable reverse repurchase action, according to an announcement on 4 July 2025.

The latest move reportedly aims to correct persistent deviations— overnight rates have stayed below the policy rate for a few months— raising concerns over the effectiveness of monetary policy signalling.