"We are going to have a new strategy because of the changes in the world," Bait-Elmal told reporters on the sidelines of a banking conference in Dubai. "We would like to have participation in London, USA, Paris, Rome."

Western firms have turned increasingly to Arab oil exporters and their sovereign wealth funds for cash as the financial crisis freezes credit markets and hits their market values.

Bait-Elmal said LFB, which provides retail and wholesale services, was in the process of raising its stake in British Arab Commercial Bank, in which HSBC (HSBA.L) holds 48 percent, to make the bank a hub for its European operations.

"We will buy HSBC's shares ... they will go down to 19 percent and we will be buy the rest," Bait-Elmal said, adding it would also buy shares from other shareholders to take its stake above 70 percent. "We hope to have it by end of the year."

NO RISE IN UNICREDIT STAKE

LFB, which already has subsidiaries in France and Spain, will also inject more capital into Rome-based Banca UBAE, in which it holds a 49.9 percent stake, according to its website.

But the lender, which is fully-owned by Libya's central bank, had no immediate plans to raise its stake in Italy's second-largest bank UniCredit (CRDI.MI).

It has held a 0.56 percent stake in UniCredit since 1997 and bought another 3.67 percent together with the Libyan Investment Authority, the oil-exporter's sovereign wealth fund, in October

Source: http://uk.reuters.com du 20/04/2009