Two Abu Dhabi banks vie for Barclays UAE retail ops - sources

By Mirna Sleiman and Stanley Carvalho

DUBAI/ABU DHABI, March 19 (Reuters) - Two Abu Dhabi lendersare vying to acquire most of Barclays' retail bankingoperations in the United Arab Emirates, with a final decisionexpected next month following a highly competitive biddingprocess, banking sources said on Wednesday.

The lenders - Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and AbuDhabi Islamic Bank - are now the frontrunners toacquire the business, the sources said, speaking on condition ofanonymity as the information isn't public.

"Barclays is still in the process of assessing each of thebids. Our focus is to ensure we do what's best for our customersand employees," a Barclays spokesman said without elaborating.

Both ADCB and ADIB declined to comment. (Writing by David French; Editing by Andrew Torchia)