British government-owned The Royal Bank of Scotland said it was looking to sell its retail investor and equity derivatives business. French bank BNP Paribas was identified as a front-runner to acquire the business unit.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Eric Rosengren said large international banks with broker-dealer units placed the financial system at risk, and as such, regulators should ensure that they have adequate capital.

The National Bank of Greece is close to finalizing an agreement to sell its fully-owned real estate business Pangaia to private equity firm Invel Real Estate.

A report from The Sunday Times said Aberdeen Asset Management was close to reaching a deal to acquire Scottish Widows Investment Partnership from Lloyds Banking Group.

Bermuda-based life insurer Wilton Re Holdings is scouting for investment banks to advise it on its possible sale or initial public offering next year. Wilton Re has received a total fund of USD1.5 billion from private equity firms.

JPMorgan Chase & Co said it had agreed to settle claims related to faulty mortgage bonds with 21 investors which included the asset management units of BlackRock Inc, Goldman Sachs Group and Pacific Investment Management Co.

New York-based financial magazine publisher Forbes Media hired Deutsche Bank to explore the sale of the company, which could potentially be valued between USD400 million and USD500 million.

The European Central Bank's attempt to reduce the excess liquidity levels of banks in the financial system had prompted the central bank to call on banks it had loaned to repay its debts at a reduced rate.

Hedge fund firm Viking Global Investors obtained 44.9 million new shares in Bank of America in a deal worth USD 620 million near the end of September.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Thursday including Sigma Alimentos, Fastjet, Rostelecom, DNB, Caixabank, Cyfrowy Polsat, America Movil, Alitalia, Telecom Italia.