Aug 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is

seen opening higher on Monday, with futures up 0.2%.

* BARCLAYS ( BCS ): British lender Barclays ( BCS ) is selling

Thames Water debt worth 236 million pounds ($319.9 million),

Bloomberg News reported on Friday, as the struggling water

utility risks being placed into special administration if it

were to collapse.

* STANDARD CHARTERED ( SCBFF ): Standard Chartered ( SCBFF ) shares

fell nearly 9% on Friday after a U.S. Republican lawmaker wrote

to the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, asking for a probe to be

launched into the bank, claiming it was involved in sanctions

evasion.

* TESLA: British motorists can now lease a Tesla

electric vehicle for just over half of what they would have paid

a year ago, The Times reported on Monday, citing industry

sources.

* ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Britain will extend discounts for

electric vans and trucks, the UK government said in a statement

on Monday.

* HOUSE PRICES: Asking prices for newly advertised British

houses and apartments fell in the four weeks to mid-August but

the drop was less notable than in the previous two months and

sales in July were their highest for the time of year since

2020, a survey showed.

* COMMODITIES: Oil prices were largely unchanged, gold rose

after hitting a two-week low, and aluminium prices in Shanghai

and London slid on Monday.

* FTSE: British stock indexes were led lower by financial

shares on Friday after a U.S. lawmaker called for an

investigation into Standard Chartered bank ( SCBFF ), pointing to

sanctions violations.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines

(Compiled by Tuhina and Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru)