London - Europe's biggest bank HSBC announced a 96.6% take-up on Sunday for its $17.7bn rights issue announced last month after a plunge in profits.
The rights issue was hailed as a success by HSBC group chairman Stephen Green, who added he was "confident" the company remained "well-placed" despite the world financial crisis.
HSBC outlined its plan for a record British rights issue in March when it reported a 70% plunge in annual net profits.
It has refused British government financial assistance in contrast to rivals like Royal Bank of Scotland.
It offered investors five new shares at a heavily-discounted price of 254p each for every 12 they already own.
"I would like to thank shareholders for their support in this successful rights issue," Green said in a statement issued by the bank.
"This underlines our determination that HSBC should maintain its signature financial strength which has served us so well... We remain confident that HSBC is well-placed in today's environment and that our strength leads to opportunity."
The statement added that HSBC expects the sale of the remaining 3.4% of new ordinary shares to complete on Monday and that in Hong Kong, the take-up figure was 98.2%.
- AFP