Europe's banks are examining ways to reclaim funds from Saudi Arabia's Saad Group, and may take control of its Swiss subsidiary, Saad Investments, a source familiar with the situation said.

'Lenders are looking at their options, and this may include a claim on Saad's Swiss operations,' the source said on Friday.

Banks from outside the Gulf, including BNP Paribas and Citi, are owed a total of more than $6 billion by Saad Group, which ran into difficulties last month.

Saad Group is split between a number of businesses, spread across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

The Geneva-headquarted business, Saad Investments Company Ltd (SICL), holds many of Saad's offshore investments and is registered in the Cayman Islands.

'SICL is seen to be a bit cleaner than the other parts of Saad, and its assets easier to monetise,' the source said.

SICL had assets of $9.1bn at the end of last year, according to rating agency Moody's. These include Saad's stake in HSBC bought in 2007, the source said.