Barclays is planning to spin off a 4 billion pound ($6.3 billion) portfolio of complex credit assets as it presses ahead with a process to clean up its balance sheet, The Financial Times said Monday.

The daily said the spin-off would also ease shareholder concerns over its investments, Reuters reported.
People familiar with the matter told The Financial Times that the bank was looking at a deal similar to a transaction announced last month in which it said it would restructure billions of dollars of credit market assets through the establishment and sale of assets to a new vehicle.
Barclays said last month that new fund, called Protium, would be supported by new funding and a multi-billion-dollar loan by Barclays.
Barclays officials were unavailable for immediate comment.
Those assets would remain on balance sheet, but Barclays said it was seeking to restructure a significant tranche of credit market exposures in a way that would secure more stable risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders over time.
It would also bring in investors with an appetite to share risk exposure to the assets, and who would share the cash flows arising from the assets.
(Source: The NYT)