Barclays in talks to sell iShares

BEIJING, March 17 (Chinese medianet) -- Barclays has been in

talks with several parties about selling iShares, its San Francisco-based asset

management unit, according tomedia reports from UKTuesday.

The UK's third largest bank also said it was talking

to the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority about taking part in the

Government's asset protection scheme (APS), in which country insures banks'

assets against future losses for a fee.

"Barclays businesses continue to perform well and

have had a strong start to 2009," the company stressed in an announcement to the

London Stock Exchange, attempting to cheer the investors.

Experts said the Barclays' exchange traded funds

business could net between 3 billion pounds (about 3.41 billion U.S.

dollars)and 5 billion pounds (about 5.41 billion dollars), which could

help it strengthen its position before the deadline of March 31 to apply for APS

and avoid joining the scheme for bank assets.

"Barclays' decision whether and to what extent to

participate in the scheme will be based on the economic merits to shareholders

of any such participation," the company added.

Sandy Chen, an analyst at Panmure Gordon Co.,

said the announcement reinforced concerns about Barclays. "The contemplated

disposal of iShares, the continued wrangling over the APS, and the disclosure of

significant credit derivatives-related payouts from troubled counterparties all

reinforce our view that Barclays' risk profile is high."

(Agencies)