The major international banking superstar, Barclays plc, from London, England, said Monday that 2009 has so-far signified great outlook, but confirmed it would be looking to sell iShares, its San Francisco-based asset management and ETF company.

The official press statement from the company confirmed that discussions are being held with “a number of potentially interested parties,” but that no decision had been made yet.

Additionally, Barclays confirmed that it’s in discussions with Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Financial Services Authority regarding participation in the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme, a plan for the English government, for a fee, to cover up to 90 per cent of credit losses associated with protected assets. Barclay’s has not yet decided to participate in the program.

Measured by tier 1 capital — the amount of common stock and reserved earnings — the company is the fourth largest bank in the world at $32.5 billion. It is the second largest bank in the United Kingdom by asset size.

Barclays is trading 18 per cent up day-over-day, while bank shares in Europe are up 5 per cent.

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