General Assembly of Kuwait National Bank Approves Capital Increase

The Extraordinary General Assembly of Kuwait Finance House approved a capital increase and amendments to two articles of its articles of association. According to a bank statement issued to the Kuwait Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the authorized capital will increase from 274.87 million Kuwaiti dinars, distributed across 2.75 billion shares with a par value of 100 fils per share, to 600 million Kuwaiti dinars, distributed across 6 billion shares at the same par value, representing an increase of 325.14 million dinars.

The assembly also approved granting the board of directors the authority to increase the issued and fully paid-up capital within the limits of the authorized capital, either in full or in part, and in a single installment or multiple installments. The board was empowered to determine the amount of the increase, the methods of implementation, the timing of calls for payment, and all related terms and conditions, including the subscription periods, maturity dates, trading periods, and distribution schedules for any capital increase.

The assembly affirmed the pre-emptive rights of existing shareholders to subscribe to any cash capital increase in proportion to their shareholdings, for a period of no less than 15 days from the opening of the subscription period. The board of directors retains the right to extend the exercise period for these pre-emptive rights and to allocate unsubscribed shares to existing or new shareholders in accordance with legal provisions, as well as to dispose of fractional shares resulting from the increase in a manner deemed appropriate, while adhering to regulatory requirements.

Furthermore, the assembly authorized the board of directors, in cases other than capital increases through bonus shares, to approve and determine an issue premium for any capital increase or new subscription, and to add it to the par value of the increased shares. The assembly also delegated the board of directors to engage any suitable parties to carry out all or part of the procedures related to the capital increase, while ensuring compliance with requirements and obtaining necessary approvals from relevant regulatory authorities.

The assembly ratified all previous board of directors’ decisions related to the aforementioned matters, which were taken prior to the implementation of the Extraordinary General Assembly’s resolutions, and deemed them approved as if they had been presented to the assembly and previously endorsed.

In a separate item, the assembly approved amendments to Article 6 of the establishment contract and Article 5 of the articles of association of the bank; the authorized capital will now stand at 600 million Kuwaiti dinars, distributed across 6 billion shares with a par value of 100 fils per share, while the issued and fully paid-up capital will remain at 274.87 million dinars, distributed across 2.75 billion shares.