The bank, nearly 18 percent owned by US investment firm Newbridge Capital, is one of a small number of listed firms that have not completed the reform, which converts non-tradable shares owned by the State into tradable shares.

Public shareholders refused to approve an initial reform plan last July, causing Shenzhen bank to miss regulators' end-2006 deadline for companies to launch the reform.

The delay has prevented the bank from raising fresh capital and proceeding with a deal, agreed in 2005, for a unit of General Electric to buy a 7.3 percent stake in it for US$100 million.

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Shenzhen Development Bank said Saturday that a shareholders' meeting had almost unanimously approved a revised, more generous plan to compensate public shareholders for the reform.

The bank offered a 1-for-10 bonus issue of shares as well as 1.5 warrants for every 10 shares held. Each warrant will let shareholders buy a Shenzhen Development Bank share at 19.00 yuan, a 34 percent discount from the last traded market price of 28.69 yuan.

The Securities Times quoted sources close to the bank as saying raising fresh capital would now be a priority. The bank's capital adequacy ratio was just 3.71 percent at the end of last year, below regulators' requirement of 8 percent.

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