BLBG:Aviva Shuts Currency-Trading Desk Citing Lack Of Client Appetite
Aviva Plc (AV/), the U.K.’s second-biggest insurer by market value, shut its currency desk as Europe’s financial turmoil reduced client demand.
Pierre Lequeux, who headed the London-based team, is leaving the company at the end of the month after two years, he said today in a telephone interview. Aviva closed the desk after “client appetite for exposure to currency as an asset class” fell as Europe’s economy worsened, the company said in an e- mailed response to questions.
Aviva is selling 16 divisions including U.K. bulk-purchase annuities, its South Korean unit and some partnerships in Italy as it seeks to bolster capital reserves and limit the effects of the sovereign debt crisis, it said on July 5.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net
