Europe

EUROPE - The European Commission will start a search for candidates to run three new regulators for the region's banking, securities and pension industries.

UK - The Pensions Ombudsman and the Pensions Protection Fund Ombudsman could be merged with The Pensions Regulator, a leaked Cabinet Office document suggests.

UK - Iberia will merge with British Airways after the Spanish airline's board of directors gave the green light to its 16-year deficit recovery plan.

EUROPE - The hunt for scale and lower costs through mergers and acquisitions is set to be an industry-changing trend over the next five years, State Street says.

US/Europe - Longevity remains one of the most underestimated risks in retirement income planning, Allianz has warned.

US/UK - Requests for securities lending services unbundled from custody arrangements are on the increase, officials at eSecLending say.

EUROPE - FSA chairman Lord Adair Turner says the Basel III capital reserve rules imposed on banks are "too lenient".

UK - Vince Cable's plans to "give shareholders more say" will fall flat because institutional investors do not have sufficient incentives to exercise responsible ownership, FairPensions warns.

EUROPE - European asset managers need to cultivate investor interest in actively managed investment products and strengthen the resilience of their business models to improve post-crisis performance, a rating agency says.

UK - Utility corporate bonds pose significant risks for many investors and are part of a "worrying trend," M&G says.