Sao Paulo - Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA agreed to acquire Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA, creating Brazil's biggest bank.

According to a statement from the banks made public Monday in Sao Paulo, the merger is set to create "the largest private financial group in the southern hemisphere" and among the 20 largest in the world.

"It is a financial institution with the capacity to compete in the international stage with the world's great banks," said the statement issued by Itausa and Unibanco Holdings, which control both banks.

Frankfurt - Two key German banks announced Monday they were tapping the government's 470-billion-bank-euro (600-billion-dollar) rescue fund in the wake of the world financial crisis.

While Germany's second biggest bank Commerzbank AG said it was seeking an 8.2 billion-euro capital injection after reporting a third-quarter loss, state controlled HSH Nordbank AG said it had turned to the fund for 30 billion euros in debt guarantees after posting a nine-month loss.

Vienna  - Austria on Monday nationalized a troubled bank for the first time since the global financial crisis hit, paying a token 2 euros (2.55 dollars) to rescue the nation's eighth-largest lender.

Kommunalkredit Austria, which expanded into Central and Eastern Europe in recent years, was sold to the Austrian government by Austrian financial company Oesterreichische Volksbank AG and French-Belgian group Dexia, the banks said in statements.

Paris - French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has threatened to nationalize any French bank receiving emergency government aid that does not extend loans to businesses, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported on Monday.

Interviewed for a television program to be broadcast late Monday, Fillon said, "If we feel that the banks are not doing the necessary work ... we will take back the credits we have given them."

Without this government aid, Fillon said, the banks will find themselves in difficulty.

"The next question is if we will then take over the bank's capital, possibly to change their leadership, to oversee their strategy," he said.

Amsterdam - Guarantees for Dutch savings accounts should be lowered, the Dutch banks said in a letter to Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos Monday.

Holders of savings accounts at Dutch banks are guaranteed for up to 100,000 euros (128,500 dollars) per person if a bank collapses.

In October, the sum guaranteed under Dutch law was increased for one year from 38,000 euros per account holder.

The Dutch central bank increased the guarantee to boost consumer confidence in the banking system, which reached a low in early October, when the government nationalized the Dutch division of former Belgian-Dutch Fortis bank and the Dutch subsidiary of Iceland's Landsbanki, Icesave, collapsed.

Frankfurt - Shares in Commerzbank AG bounded ahead Monday after Germany's second biggest bank said it was tapping the government's bank rescue fund for an 8.2 billion-euros (10.6 billion dollars) capital injection after posting a third-quarter loss.

The announcement it was to receive aid from the 470-billion-euro fund to strengthen its capital base came as the bank unveiled a 285- million-euro net loss in the three months to the end of September in the wake of the world financial crisis.

The third-quarter loss compared to a 339-million-euro net profit in the same period last year.