Aviva Investors Global Services has paid out £150m (€205m) in fines and compensation after failing to control conflicts of interest, the UK’s markets watchdog said yesterday.

Aviva Investors has been fined £17.6m after its failure to manage conflicts of interest led to “cherry picking” by traders.

Investors looking for companies with good environmental, social, and governance track records will find the job easier after European politicians ruled that thousands of firms must reveal their performance as corporate citizens.

One of the bidders vying to buy 315 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland today insisted its £1.5bn (€1.75bn) plan will pave the way for a “strong challenger bank”.

Insurance giant Aviva reported a “satisfactory” first half after cost-cutting boosted earnings by 5%, but delivered another blow to investors as it almost halved its interim dividend payout.

Aviva Investors has sold AIB’s Ballsbridge headquarters in Dublin for a sum believed to be in the region of €70 million, which is a loss of over €100m on the amount paid for the property at the height of the boom in 2006.

More than 160 jobs were announced yesterday at separate projects in Dublin and Co Westmeath.

THE Central Bank has fined Aviva Investors Ireland (the asset management arm of Aviva Insurance) €30,000 for a number of breaches of the Client Asset Requirements (CAR) regulations.

THE last three months proved to be the best performing quarter for Irish pension funds in the last 10 years.

Insurance giant Aviva today said it had agreed to sell its Australian life and wealth management businesses in a deal worth around €530m.

Hibernian investment managers will now trade under the global brand name of Aviva Investors, becoming part of an €297bn world fund management group.