Weekly Global News Wrap: Intesa bids $35b for MPS; Maybank books $4.9b in Johor-SG SEZ

And British banks want closer ties with the EU, a lobbying body said.

From Reuters:
Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo is bidding $35b (€30.6b) to buy its smaller rival Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS).

If the deal pushes through, this will create the Eurozone's second-largest lender by market value.

A successful transaction would narrow Intesa's capitalisation gap with Spain's Santander and help it overtake France's BNP Paribas and domestic rival UniCredit—although UniCredit would be able to extend its lead if it managed a complete hostile takeover of Commerzbank.

ALSO READ: Chinese megabanks’ assets grow 16% as Japan and India stalls

From Bloomberg:
Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) has facilitated $4.9b in financing and investments in the Johor-Singapore special economic zone (SEZ), its president and group CEO said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Khairussaleh Ramli said that Maybank has helped establish nine family offices in Johor, and that the bank’s overall financing for the zone is the biggest of any lenders involved in the development.

Earlier in 2026, the bank set a 13% to 14% return on equity (ROE) target by 2030 under its ROAR30 strategy.

From Reuters:
British banks are seeking closer ties with the European Union, according to a report by industry lobbying ​body UK Finance.

UK Finance said ​banks were not seeking to undo Brexit or "reverse convergence ​into the EU Single Market," but instead to formalise ⁠aspects of the Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Services ​Cooperation between Britain and Europe signed in 2023.