More cash-raising plans for banks

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Four more of the largest US banks have announced plans to sell shares in a bid to boost their capital and repay money from the government bail-out.

US Bankcorp, Capital One, BB&T and Keycorp plan to raise $6bn (£4.5bn).

Of the four, all but KeyCorp, passed the US Treasury's "stress tests" and were not told they needed to raise extra funds.

Last week Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America - which all failed the tests - revealed fundraising moves.

THE 10 THAT NEED MORE CAPITAL Bank of America - $33.9bnWells Fargo - $13.7bnGMAC - $11.5bnCitigroup - $5.5bnMorgan Stanley - $1.8bnRegions Financial - $2.5bnSunTrust Banks - $2.2bnKeyCorp - $1.8bnFifth Third Bancorp - $1.1bnPNC Financial Services - $600m <a class="" href="/1/hi/business/8033986.stm">Q&A: Bank stress tests</a>

US Bancorp plans to sell $2.5bn of stock, and is also selling $1bn of debt. Capital One has sold $1.55bn of new shares while BB&T Corp will sell $1.5 billion worth of stock.

KeyCorp - which regulators said had a capital shortfall of $1.8bn - said it would sell $750m worth of shares to try and plug the gap.

Plan deadline

Last Thursday, the US Treasury said that 10 of America's 19 largest banks needed to raise a combined total of $74.6bn of extra funds.

That was the main finding of the so-called "stress tests" which were carried out to see if the banks had sufficient capital to cope should the recession worsen.

The banks that require extra capital have been given until 8 June to finalise their plans to do so, and get them approved by regulators.

The 19 banks that were tested by Treasury Department and Federal Reserve officials account for two-thirds of the total assets of the US banking system, and more than half of the total amount of credit in the US economy.