Itau plans sale of major risk insurer

Itau-Unibanco plans to sell its major risk insurance operation in a competitive process that will begin in the coming days, the bank said on Wednesday. The Brazilian bank booked pre-tax profit of BRL1.1bn ($463.6m) in the third quarter last year from its insurance operations, including retail and commercial coverage. Itau entered a joint-venture with major risk insurer XL Capital in 2006, and took over the firm entirely in 2010.