Barclays seeks to raise 4 billion pounds from Asia

Singapore state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings on Monday declined to comment on a newspaper report that it was in talks with Barclays Bank, which has been hit by the global credit crunch.
"We do not comment on market rumours," a Temasek spokeswoman told AFP after Britain's Sunday Times reported the British bank was close to raising 4.0 billion pounds (7.8 billion US dollars) from Asian sovereign investment funds.
ADVERTISEMENT The report said Barclays was in talks with about six investment groups, of which three would probably be selected. They included state-linked China Development Bank and Temasek Holdings, it said.
A spokeswoman for Barclays also declined to comment on the story.
The refusals to comment come as Barclays was reported to be close to raising 4 billion pounds (5 billion euros, 7.8 billion dollars) from several large Asian sovereign investment funds, according to a report in the newspaper.
The paper, which did not cite its source, said Barclays needed the cash injection because of strains from the global credit crunch and was expected to release an official statement on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment on the story.
The Sunday Times said that Barclays was in talks with about six investment groups and would probably select three of these.
The paper also said the fundraising could be completed in the next two weeks, citing an unnamed advisor acting on behalf of a sovereign wealth fund.
Barclays would become the latest British bank to seek additional funding amid the ongoing worldwide squeeze on credit.
Shareholders at HBOS, Britain's biggest home loan provider, vote later this month on plans for a rights issue totalling 7.9 billion dollars (5.0 billion euros).
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said last week that its record-breaking 24-billion-dollar rights issue had received a take-up rate of more than 95 percent.
Many of the world's leading banks have suffered major losses related to the collapsed US subprime or high-risk housing sector, and the subsequent tightening of lending conditions.