UCO approaches LIC for capital-raising

The LIC could play a major part UCO Bank’s capital-raising plan in FY19. The MD and CEO of the bank Atul Kumar Goel said that the bank has approached LIC for additional capital, having already raised around Rs 500 crore as Basel-III compliant tier-II bonds. The bank envisages a capital requirement of Rs 4,500-5,000 crore in 2019-20. While the bank will primarily look at capital from the government, there are two concerns. Firstly, the Centre holds 92.52% in the bank as on June 30, 2019, while public shareholding is only 7.48%. Secondly, the current volatility could make it difficult for the bank to tap the capital market.