GERMANY - Commerzbank, the second-largest German bank, intends to sell its French asset management unit CCR.

"We are planning a sale as part of our strategy," said Klaus-Peter Müller, the bank's chief executive officer, at its annual general meeting.

He added there was no rush to sell the Caisse Centrale de Reescompte (CCR).

A spokeswoman for Commerzbank confirmed to IPE in the course of a stronger focus on the bank's "core competences" it will also concentrate on its German operations.

She said the firm believes its core competences are investments in "profitable industries" including sustainability and commodities.

Earlier this year, the bank also sold its UK-based asset management operation Jupiter in a management buyout. So should the CCR sale be successful, Commerzbank will no longer have any European asset management subsidiaries outside of Germany.

CCR's expertise is currently in money market funds as around 62% of CCR's €16bn in assets under management originate from institutional investors.

For the first quarter of 2007, Commerzbank reported a profit of €2.4bn an increase of 5.2% year-on-year.