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1 / 4Barclays asks insurers to take default risk on more than $10 billion of AI data-center loans×

The ask

Barclays is asking insurers to cover more than half the credit risk on some AI infrastructure loans, more than $10 billion in all, Bloomberg reported on October 29th.

Why

Insurance would free balance sheet so the bank can keep lending as hyperscaler borrowing climbs.

Early days

The talks are exploratory, with no size or timing settled, and Barclays declined to comment.

The catch

Appetite may be thin: a Willis Towers Watson survey in May found several credit insurers near or at their limits on data-center exposure. Lenders that want someone else holding part of the build-out risk is a pattern now, a week after the cost of insuring Meta's debt hit a record.

Sources and the full story

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Barclays asks insurers to take default risk on more than $10 billion of AI data-center loans

Barclays is asking insurers to cover more than half the credit risk on some AI infrastructure loans, more than $10 billion in all, Bloomberg reported on October 29th. Insurance would free balance sheet so the bank can keep lending as hyperscaler borrowing climbs. The talks are exploratory, with no size or timing settled, and Barclays declined to comment.

Appetite may be thin: a Willis Towers Watson survey in May found several credit insurers near or at their limits on data-center exposure. Lenders that want someone else holding part of the build-out risk is a pattern now, a week after the cost of insuring Meta's debt hit a record. SourcesB

Sources

• BBarclays seeks insurance on AI data-center loans (Insurance Journal, Bloomberg)insurancejournal.com

This story ran in the Morning Brief of October 31st 2026.