Popular asks banks for €2.5bn rights issue support

Banco Popular Espanol, the Spanish lender that has a €3.2bn capital shortfall, said it has support from more than a dozen investment banks as it puts together plans for a €2.5bn rights issue. However, ECM bankers said that while they have been in talks with Popular, there remains plenty of due diligence work to be done before any firm will commit to underwriting.