Swiss Re in talks to buy Barclays life arm

LONDON (Reuters) - Reinsurance giant Swiss Re (RUKN.VX) is in talks to buy the life assurance arm of British bank Barclays (BARC.L), The Sunday Times said.

The report said Swiss Re was conducting due diligence on the division, which has more than 7 billion pounds under management but closed to new business in 2001.

Barclays declined to comment. It has said in the past it is reviewing its options for the division, which the newspaper said could be worth anything from 400 million to 750 million pounds.

Barclays secured a 4.5 billion pound fundraising package earlier this month as it rebuilds its balance sheet, drawn largely from Qatari and Asian investors.

(Reporting by John Bowker, editing by Will Waterman)