Requiring regulators to keep the financial sector globally competitive following Brexit must not bring back the damaging booms and busts of the past, a senior Bank of England official said on Monday.

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian payments group Nexi is in exclusive talks to buy the retailers' payment business of BPER Banca, a person close to the matter said, confirming a report by Bloomberg News.

It is too early to know if the Federal Reserve will need to start its tightening cycle at its next policy meeting in March with a half percentage point rate rise, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said on Monday, as she pointed to upcoming data as the deciding factor.

UniCredit is revamping its structure so that all domestic companies from small businesses to large multinationals are looked after by one division, Italy's second largest bank said on Monday.

Russian banks increased their liquid assets held in foreign currencies by $8.5 billion in January to $53.5 billion, the central bank said on Monday, in a sign lenders may try to boost their forex shield in light of fresh sanctions threat.

Global markets are already pricing chunky geopolitical risks but there is scope for risk premia to rise further across all sectors, if a conflict breaks out between Russia and Ukraine, Goldman Sachs strategists said in a note on Monday.