Sky News reported the bank was eyeing a sale of £3bn of its mortgage book in an attempt to shore up its balance sheet and had opened talks with Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and HSBC.
This would add to the potential equity and debt raising that is being targeted by the bank in order to refinance a £350m MREL debt due next year.
Metro Bank urgent fundraise plans spark sharp sell-off
The equity raise has been made significantly more difficult following the bank's share price decline yesterday (5 October), bottoming at more than 30% before closing at 27.7%, according to data from Morningstar Direct.
In a statement, Metro Bank confirmed it was exploring a range of options but clarified that "no decision has been made on whether to proceed with any of these options".
According to the FT, the Bank of England was keeping the Treasury updated, which was "monitoring the situation", although these officials are not in direct contact with Metro Bank, according to government insiders.
Shares in the bank have opened up more than 5% in early trading this morning (6 October).