Public banks seek LIC funding as deadline to reduce govt stake to 75% nears

Most of the banks are planning to go for a qualified institutional placement to reduce the stake, and LIC would be a major subscriber of the issues, said a banker in a PSB

As public sector banks (PSBs) approach the deadline to reduce promoters' stake to 75 per cent, they are reaching out to LIC, which in turn can subscribe to their shares to meet regulatory norms. This is especially true for those banks that have been heavily captitalised by the government in the recent years due to their weak capital base. 

Some of the public sector banks in which government shareholding has exceeded 90 per cent include United Bank of India (96.83 per cent), UCO Bank (92.52 per cent), Allahabad Bank (92.01 per cent) and Corporation Bank (93.50 per cent), to name