Barclays, RBS line up Fed for $30 bln credit: report

Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have lined up emergency funds of up to $30 billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve to bail out American clients caught up in the global credit crunch, a paper said.

Barclays has been given permission to borrow up to $20 billion through the facility, while RBS can borrow up to $10 billion, the Sunday Telegraph quoted banking sources as saying.

The banks would have to put up assets as collateral with the Fed to gain access to the credit line, which has been set up as a contingency and may not need to be used at all, the report said.

It is similar to those offered to Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank at the height of the credit crunch, it said.

Barclays and RBS were not immediately available for comment.