Barclays to invest in spain's bad bank

British bank Barclays on Friday was reported to invest in Spain's SAREB, the so-called "bad bank," as the latter is seeking for private investors to underwrite at least 55 percent of its capital for easing the state fiscal burdens. Reuters quoted a source saying the British bank is committed to helping fix Spain's banking troubles, who otherwise did not disclose how much Barclays was likely to put in. SAREB, short for "Sociedad de Gestion de Activos procedentes de la Reestructuracion Bancaria" (Society for the management of assets proceeding from the reconstruction of the Banking System), which started operations in November, was created to take on, and then sell off, toxic assets such as undeveloped property and unfinished buildings to restore Spain's banking sector. Spanish officials said the entity is expected to take over up to 90 billion euros (116.1 billion U.S. dollars) of bad property. Establishment of the bad bank was a condition for Spanish banking sector to get an aid of up to 100 billion euros from the European Union. Earlier, Spanish banks Santander and Sabadell as well as insurers Mapfre and Mutua Madrilena have agreed to invest in the bad bank. Barclays has been in the teeth of storm this year since the U.S. and British regulators exposed its notorious Libor-rigging behaviors. The bank also has been under investigations on potential manipulation in the electricity market of California and suspicious fund-raising from Middle East.