NEW YORK : Bank of America Corporation has raised some 13.5 billion US dollars in an offering of its common stock, as the company seeks to raise capital to weather the financial crisis.

The money was raised at the conclusion of a previously announced sale of common stock through an At-the-Market issuance programme, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

Bank of America said it issued 1.25 billion shares since beginning the programme on May 8 at an average price of 10.77 dollars, "representing gross proceeds of approximately 13.47 billion dollars.

"We're pleased to have this portion of our capital plan completed," said Bank of America Chief Financial Officer Joe Price. "This strengthens and diversifies our capital structure."

Following a "stress test" that US financial regulators carried out on 19 banks, Bank of America - the biggest US bank by the size of its assets - was told it needed to raise 33.9 billion dollars. The "stress test" results were made known on May 7.

The federal government has pumped 45 billion dollars in bailout cash into the ailing Charlotte, North Carolina-based institution since the world economic crisis, which originated in the United States, started to unravel in October 2008.

- AFP/ir/al