Standard seeks £1.8bn to expand

Standard Chartered, the London-based emerging markets bank, plans to take advantage of the banking crisis to steal market share from competitors and is raising £1.8 billion in a rights issue to help it do so.

The bank said it would use the cash to expand its existing businesses but added that it could see acquisition opportunities in the current crisis.

The issue is supported and partly underwritten by Standard Chartered's largest shareholder, the Singapore Government vehicle Temasek. It owns a 19% stake, which could rise to 22%. The rights issue price of 390p is at a hefty discount of 48.7% to Friday night's closing price.

The bank said its key Tier 1 Capital Ratio, the best measure of balance sheet strength, would rise from 6.1% to 7.4% once the rights issue money arrives.

Chief executive Peter Sands said the issue would "strengthen our competitive position as significant opportunities emerge".