DNB ASA aims to buy back up to 1.5% of its shares representing 23,704,521 shares following an announcement from the Norwegian finance ministry that new capital rules will be implemented Dec. 31.
"The announcement provides additional clarity regarding future capital requirements," DNB said Dec. 12, referring to Capital Requirements Directive IV and the Capital Requirements Regulation.
The Norwegian bank will repurchase the shares at a price of between 10 Norwegian kroner and 250 kroner each. Launched in October, the lender initially sought to buy back 0.5% of its shares. It then increased the program to buy back 1.0% of its shares. The buyback is expected to be completed at the end of March 2020 at the latest.
DNB said it has so far repurchased about 7.8 million shares.
As of Dec. 11, US$1 was equivalent to 9.14 Norwegian kroner.