Former finance minister to head Lima stock exchange

Former Peruvian finance minister Claudia Cooper was appointed president of the Lima stock exchange (BVL), underscoring a growing trend of former ministry officials lining up prime jobs in capital markets.

Cooper formerly served as finance minister for seven months until March 2018, when then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and his entire cabinet resigned. She replaces Marco Antonio Zaldívar, who had headed the exchange since September 2016.

Cooper, who holds a PhD in economics from New York University, formerly worked at Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP) and Santiago-based investment fund Compass Group and was a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The Lima exchange has been struggling in recent years to increase trading volumes and attract more IPOs. The exchange's general index IGBVL fell 3.1% last year as mining stocks slumped 20% and trading volumes fell by half to 11.146bn soles (US$3.392bn).

Real estate investment fund Fibra Prime launched an IPO on the BVL last August, marking the first new stock on the exchange since 2012. Mining exploration firm Rio2 later listed on the Lima venture exchange.

Cooper's incorporation into the BVL comes after her predecessor Fernando Zavala was named CEO at Interbank in January. Another former finance minister, David Tuesta, was appointed director of strategic affairs at Caracas-based multilateral lender CAF last year.