Westpac gives SPP applicants an out

Westpac will provide a withdrawal option for share purchase plan applicants who applied for shares under the plan prior to Austrac's launch of court proceedings on November 20. The bank said its move followed discussions with ASIC.

The share purchase plan opened on November 12. Following an institutional placement and designed for small investors, shareholders were offered up to A$30,000 of new fully paid ordinary shares, with no brokerage or transaction costs.

The shares were priced at the lesser of $25.32 - the price paid by institutional investors - and the volume weighted average price of Westpac shares on the ASX during the five trading days up to an including the closing date of the offer (December 2), less a discount of 2 per cent.

The stock has been trading below $25 a share over the past week.

Withdrawal requests can be made up until December 6. If the share purchase plan fails, the bank will be around $500 million short of the capital raising target it outlined at its results briefing.