July 26 (Reuters) - Barclays Plc is in the finalstages of executing a plan to boost its capital levels that willlikely involve the bank issuing billions of pounds worth of newsecurities, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing peoplefamiliar with the matter.
The bank is likely to unveil its plans to sell convertiblebonds and, potentially, new common stock when it announces itssecond-quarter results on Tuesday, WSJ said.
The bank is looking at filling a capital deficit of 7billion pounds, recently identified by U.K. regulators, and toput to rest investors' doubts about its capital position, theJournal said. ()
The plans are still subject to change, partly becauseBarclays executives are still in talks with officials at theU.K.'s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to make sure itsproposed actions will satisfy the agency's new capital rules,WSJ reported.
The PRA in June surprised investors by telling banks theyneeded to have a 3 percent leverage ratio, and said Barclaysfell short with a ratio of only 2.5 percent after adjustments.The agency gave Barclays until the end of July to say how theywould improve.
A Barclays spokeswoman declined to comment on the report,citing the bank's policy of not commenting on speculation.
Barclays (BARC)