* Regulator sets end 2015 deadline to meet new target
* Co-op defers coupon due to bondholders at end of July
* Co-op launches independent review into problems at itsbank
By Matt Scuffham and Steve Slater
LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Nationwide, Britain'sbiggest customer-owned lender, has agreed a plan with thefinancial regulator to meet stricter targets on leverage by theend of 2015, easing fears it will need to raise new capital.
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said in JuneNationwide and Barclays fell short of a leverage targetof 3 percent and needed to set out a plan to get to that level.
The regulator did not give a deadline for the process atthat time, leading some analysts to assume the requirement wouldbe enforced at the end of 2013, in line with the timeframe fornew regulatory demands on capital.
Nationwide said on Friday it would have two years to reachthe new target and the PRA had agreed it could continue with itscurrent business model and strategy.
The PRA said talks with Barclays were ongoing and itexpected them to conclude by the end of July. Barclays sharesclosed up 1.1 percent on hopes it will also be given until theend of 2015.
Regulators around the world are setting new rules to limitrisk-taking by banks, proposing a leverage ratio that caps theirassets based on a simple assessment of their equity. Leveragemeasures the amount of equity a bank holds as a percentage ofits loans, without adjustments for risk.
The news came as the Co-operative Bank, anothercustomer-owned British lender, said it would not pay coupons due later this month on bonds held by thousands of privateretail investors including pensioners.
Co-op said the interest payment on its 13 percent perpetualsubordinated bonds due on July 31 would be deferred until it hadcompleted a financial restructuring to address a 1.5 billionpound capital shortfall.
Co-op's parent, the Co-operative Group, said ithad launched an independent review of the bank's problems, ledby Christopher Kelly, previously a senior official withinBritain's finance ministry and a past chairman of the FinancialOmbudsman Service and Committee on Standards in Public Life.
It will examine Co-op Bank's decision to buy the BritanniaBuilding Society in 2009 and its proposed purchase of hundredsof branches from Lloyds Banking Group, which collapsedearlier this year. The findings will be presented to members atthe Co-op's annual meeting next May.