Financial stocks were leaning lower premarket Thursday, with The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) declining by 0.3%.

The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was down 0.8% and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 1.1% higher.

UBS Group (UBS) has made additional progress in resolving previously identified shortcomings and has attained significant milestones, but its emergency plan needs to be developed further, Switzerland's financial regulator Finma said. Shares of UBS Group were down more than 3% pre-bell.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) said Spanish regulators have approved its revised takeover offer for Banco Sabadell. BBVA shares were down more than 1% premarket.

HSBC Holdings (HSBC) said it agreed to sell its retail banking business in Sri Lanka to Nations Trust Bank. Separately, HSBC said a trial conducted with International Business Machines (IBM) to explore the use of quantum computers in optimizing bond trading yielded "promising" results. Shares of HSBC were down more than 1% pre-bell.