Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has sold its 9.6% stake in Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (Sacombank) to Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Eximbank), breaking up the strategic alliance established in March 2005. Speaking in a statement on Thursday, Alex Thursby, CEO of ANZ Asia Pacific Europe and America, said: “We established our relationship with Sacombank in... 

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group on Thursday announced a 19 per cent rise in annual profits, but warned of difficult conditions ahead due to global economic volatility. Australia’s third largest bank by market value said net profit for the 12 months to September 30 came in at Aus$5.36 billion ($5.5 billion). Underlying profit jumped 12 per cent from the previous year to Aus$5.65 billion. Chief... 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank AG are among 13 financial institutions that submitted bids to advise Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry & Trade on its planned $500 million overseas bond sale, according to Deputy General Director Le Duc Tho. Others that sent in bids include HSBC Holdings Plc, Standard Chartered Plc, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group... 

The State Bank of Vietnam yesterday raised two key interest rates to 13 per cent per year in an attempt to fight the rise in the consumer price index recently fuelled by the petrol and oil price hike. The refinance interest rate has been increased for the third time this year to 13 per cent from 12 per cent. The rate was raised from 9 per cent to 11 per cent on February 17 and to 12 per cent on March... 

Asian stock markets rose on Monday thanks partly to the easing of Egypt’s political crisis, although there was caution about upcoming Chinese inflation data and oil prices remained high. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.85 per cent in the afternoon despite data showing Japan’s economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2010. The data confirmed Japan had lost its 42-year spot as... 

Vietnam devalued its beleaguered currency on Friday for the third time in a year, as authorities started to try to address festering economic problems that critics say have been brushed aside in the pursuit of growth. The State Bank of Vietnam dropped the dong’s reference rate to VND20,693 per dollar from VND18,932, an 8.5 percent devaluation, and narrowed the currency’s trading band to... 

Vietnam’s largest asset manager, VinaCapital Investment Management Ltd, is expanding into neighboring Cambodia with a pledge to invest US$100 million and eventually launch a dedicated fund, the company said on Tuesday. Its new, wholly owned unit, VictoryCapital, will “invest in a broad range of sectors, including real estate, hospitality, infrastructure and agriculture”, said... 

The opening of the market under the WTO commitments is a golden opportunity for foreign banks to obtain a bigger market share in Vietnam dong capital mobilization. However, analysts say in this business it will not be easy for foreign banks to get the upper hand over Vietnamese banks. The interest rates applied as of January 12, 2011 by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) prove to... 

This publication is partly cited from FineIntel’s Industry Update. Our monthly industry update is a publication designed to provide meaningful insight into today’s industries in Vietnam. We encourage our readers to submit suggestions for topics that they would like see covered in future issues. While FineIntel can not cover each and every topic, we will do our best to provide the fullest coverage... 

According to a survey of Standard Chartered Bank in 2009, the segment of high-class Asian individual customers in retail banking increased 12 percent, triple that of Western countries. In Vietnam, that number could be 15-25 percent per year if banks can satisfy the needs of the customers, said Ms. Namita Lal, Director in charge of Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam’s retail banking field. While many...