Punjab National Bank (PNB), one of the leading public sector lenders in India, has announced that the board of directors of the bank discussed about various options of raising capital to meet Basle-Ill guidelines. The funds will be used for the general business needs. It decided to explore the avenues for raising capital through QIP/FPO/Rights Issue.

The board has approved allotment of shares to employees under employees stock purchase scheme (ESPS)/any other scheme. It also raise Basel III compliant additional Tier-I Capital bonds.

The board also considered and granted in-principle approval for split of existing equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each into 5 equity shares of value of Rs 2 each.

Shares of the bank gained Rs 13.15, or 1.35%, to trade at Rs 990. The total volume of shares traded was 26,911 at the BSE (10.09 a.m., Monday).