Nigeria, April 11 -- Wema Bank said the capital it intends to raise through the sale of N150 billion worth of shares to current shareholders will help set it on the path to joining the class of systemically important banks, a category of lenders often described as "too big to fail" because their collapse could pose profound threats to the financial system.

The rights issue, which is set for launch on Monday, "will consolidate the Bank's vision of becoming a Systematically Important Bank (SIB) and creating value for our esteemed shareholders," the lender said in an announcement on Thursday.

Domestic SIBs, just like lenders with international banking licences, need to have at least a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 15 per cent to be class...