JS Bank to issue discounted shares

Move comes as part of bid to increase paid-up capital.

KARACHI:

JS Bank has decided to increase its paid-up capital by issuing shares at a discounted value to meet the central bank’s minimum capital requirement. The bank, however, did not disclose the amount of shares it will issue.

All banks are required to raise their minimum capital to at least Rs8 billion by the end of this year, said BMA Capital analyst Abdul Shakur.

The board of directors of Jahangir Siddiqui and Company Limited (JSCL) in a meeting on Monday also decided to dispose of Jahangir Siddiqui and Company Limited’s 43.5 per cent stake in JS Global Capital to the subsidiary JS Bank, according to a notice on the Karachi Stock Exchange website on Monday.

The State Bank of Pakistan has granted approval to JS Bank Limited’s proposed transaction.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.