KUWAIT, Feb 8 (KUNA) -- The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said Monday it obtained the Central Bank of Kuwait's (CBK) approval to increase capital from 504 million (USD 1.67 billion) Kuwaiti Dinars to KD 600 (USD two billion).
The capital increase is part of NBK's keenness to be at the forefront of local banks to strengthen its capital in line with CBK's instructions, which called for abiding by the Basel III, the bank said in a statement.
Basel III is a global and voluntary regulatory framework on bank capital adequacy, stress testing and market liquidity risk.
NBK said it was keen on maintaining enough capital levels as part of its high-standard policy.
The current capital is fully paid, it said, and the CBK approval for a capital hike would give the bank further flexibility coupled with capability to seize growth opportunities.
NBK said it issued USD 700 million worth of securities and KD 125 million worth of bonds to back the capital. (end) mfs.bs