Stockholm  - Banking shares took a hit Monday on the Stockholm stock exchange as the Swedish central bank said it would offer a 1-billion-kronor (125 million dollars) loan to the Carnegie Investment Bank AB.

The group's shares continued their recent slide, and had plunged some 60 per cent at midday but late-afternoon were down 50 per cent. The Stockholm OMXS index also recovered some ground and was off 3 per cent.

"The bank has suffered liquidity problems. Given the currently prevailing anxiety, the Riksbank has decided to grant liquidity assistance to Carnegie to reduce the risk of a serious disruption to the financial system," Riksbank governor Stefan Ingves said.

The central bank and the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority said Carnegie was solvent, but the financial watchdog was to review Carnegie's internal management and control also "concerning possible deficits in handling of large credit exposures."

Carnegie is engaged in stockbroking, equity analysis, equity trading, asset management and advice on corporate acquisitions in the Nordic region.

A year ago the watchdog issued a maximum 50-million-kronor fine against Carnegie and ordered the replacement of the chief executive and election of a new board over poor supervision.

Shares in major Swedish banking groups also fell, with Swedbank shedding almost 11 per cent at midday.

Swedbank earlier Monday said it planned to raise 12.4 billion kronor (1.51 billion dollars) by issuing new shares.

Swedbank is one of Sweden's four major banking groups. In recent weeks, Swedbank has been in the sights of analysts due to its presence in the Baltic region, where economic growth has slowed to standstill and fears of loan losses have increased.

According to Swedbank, the entire issue will be underwritten by existing shareholders, including insurance and savings group Folksam, savings bank foundations, over 60 savings banks, as well as the Swedish national pension funds AP1 and AP2.

The new issue awaits approval at a special general meeting, scheduled for November 25. dpa( )