The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a rights offer of LankaBangla Finance, which will raise Tk 82.35 crore from its existing shareholders.

The permission came at a meeting of the stockmarket regulator on Tuesday with SEC Chairman M Khairul Hossain in the chair, according to a statement.

The company will issue over 8.23 crore ordinary shares of Tk 10 each at par. The joint venture financial institution will offer one rights share for each existing share. LankaBangla Finance, with an existing paid-up capital of Tk 82.35 crore, will use the proceedings from the rights offer to strengthen its capital structure in line with Basel II requirement.

The Basel II regime is the latest version of risk-based capital standards set for banks and financial institutions worldwide. The accord has been prepared on the basis of three pillars: minimum capital requirement, supervisory review process and market discipline.

All three types of risks — credit risk, market risk and operational risk — have to be considered under the minimum capital requirement.

LankaBangla Finance, which was listed on the stockmarket in 2006, is engaged in lease financing, term financing, factoring, auto loan, SME, deposit scheme, home loan and stock broking.

On the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday, each LankaBangla share was traded between Tk 147.60 and Tk 124.80, before closing at Tk 124.90.