BlackRock (BLK) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) head up a line of possible suitors interested in purchasing Barclays‘ (BCS) asset management segment, unnamed sources told Bloomberg. Barclays may raise as much as $10bn through the sale. BNY Mellon manages $881bn of assets through mutual funds and institutional accounts. One of HousingWire’s sources inside BNY Mellon tells us major European banks have parked considerable reserves at its Canary Wharf operations in London. The source says large European banks are confident in leaving capital at BNY Mellon, a stateside Troubled Asset Relief Program administrator and consequentially very likely to be “insured” with government capital, should any problems arise, without the public shame of asking for a capital infusion. BlackRock, which manages $1.3trn in assets, makes a name for itself buying distressed debt. Last year it began backing Private National Mortgage Acceptance, also known as PennyMac, which buys mortgages at a discount and look to service them in-house. Both BNY Mellon and BlackRock profit well from such acquisitions, but they might be two of the few players left. For example, General Electric (GE) in 2008 overextended itself in asset acquisitions, in September ’08 revising its earnings guidance due to “unprecedented” weakness in financial services market. “Given the recent dramatic developments in the financial markets, we have made some tough decisions to further reduce risk and strengthen our balance sheet while maintaining our dividend commitment,” GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt said in a media statement. “We have suspended the stock buyback to reduce GE Capital leverage, while still being able to pursue opportunistic acquisitions.” Write to Diana Golobay. Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments.

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