Tuesday saw Dubai-based lender Emirates NBD confirming that it raised a sum of 4 billion dirhams ($1.09 billion). It did so by issuing debt securities to the bank's majority shareholder, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).

The bank's tier 1 ratio, a measure to assess a bank's financial strength, would be lifted to more than 11 percent by the 4 billion dirhams in debt securities, said the Gulf region's largest bank by assets. 

Due to the crisis, banks around the globe were faced with plummeting asset values and heavy losses, because of which they have had to raise capital, often turning for help to local governments, in order to meet central bank minimum requirements.

It was put forward by the lender in March that its tier 1 capital ratio stood at 9.4 percent. It also said that the bank needed to raise nearly .5 billion dirhams if it wanted to meet its 2009 target.

It should be noted that until 30th June, Banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had to abide with the new central bank's capital requirements.

Via an emailed statement, the bank said that the sole investor in securities - which have a fixed rate coupon of 6.45 percent for the first five years before becoming floating rate - is ICD, which is the Emirate's sovereign wealth fund owning slightly more than half of the bank.

Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shaibani, ICD chief executive said: "A strong banking system is essential for the continued development of the UAE and through this injection of tier 1 capital, the Investment Corporation of Dubai is able to demonstrate its full commitment to Emirates NBD."