(Reuters) -New York Community Bancorp is seeking to raise capital, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, as the embattled lender aims to bolster confidence after a month-long ordeal that has wiped 69% off its market value.

The bank's shares tumbled another 42% following the news that was marked by multiple trading halts for volatility.

Peers including Valley National Bancorp and Citizens Financial fell over 1% each, with the KBW Regional Banking Index down 2.4%.

NYCB did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The bank has been under pressure since it posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss on Jan. 31, weighed down by higher provisions tied to its exposure to the beleaguered commercial real estate (CRE) sector, and cut its dividend.

It also slashed its dividend by 70% to bolster capital to deal with stricter regulation that banks with assets of $100 billion and above are subjected to.

Last week, the bank revised the quarterly loss to $2.7 billion, citing a $2.4 billion goodwill impairment, and replaced its CEO.

NYCB also disclosed it had identified "material weaknesses" in internal controls tied to its review of loans.

The weaknesses were related to "ineffective oversight, risk assessment and monitoring activities", but it would not impact its financial results for fiscal 2023, the bank had said.

Internal controls are processes to ensure the accuracy and reliability of a company's financial reports.

CRE CONCERNS

Several Wall Street analysts have flagged concerns that the lender's exposure to CRE could also require it to build additional capital reserves to absorb potential losses on loans.

"We believe this review of internal controls could lead to additional CRE-related reserve building, particularly related to the company's NYC rent-regulated multifamily exposure," brokerage Wedbush wrote in a note earlier this month.

NYCB has pledged to reduce its exposure to CRE. Multi-family properties - apartment buildings with more than four units - have been a primary focus for the bank for five decades.

Loans tied to such properties made up 44% of NYCB's $84.6 billion portfolio as of Dec. 31. Nearly 8.3% of such loans were "criticized", meaning at higher risk of default.

"We do not see a sale as likely outcome for NYCB," Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz wrote in a note last week following the bank's disclosure. "In our view, NYCB is on its own to figure out how to course correct."

The capital infusion news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Manya Saini in Bengaluru and Anirban Sen in New York; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Sriraj Kalluvila)