Britain's Barclays Bank is considering buying up France's biggest public bank, the debt-ridden Credit Lyonnais, to form a transEuropean superbank, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.

According to the paper, talks have been going on for the past several months between the two financial institutions with a view to Credit Lyonnais' scheduled privatisation in 1999 and the imminent opening of Europe's banking sector.

Barclays' chief, Mr Martin Taylor, is convinced the next century will be dominated by only a few giant banking corporations.