One of the ways in which banks are planning to increase their charter capital this year is to have their strategic partners acquire a greater stake – from the current 10 to 20 per cent. However, it is not very clear if this move, aimed primarily at meeting new minimum charter capital requirements, will work for everyone. Most of the applications that have been made in this regard are yet to be approved,... 

Malaysia’s Hong Leong Bank has joined Smartlink, a network of more than 5,500 ATMs run by several domestic and foreign banks. It also becomes the first foreign bank to offer several ATM services, including cash withdrawal and transfer of funds, free of charge. Hong Leong Bank Vietnamcommenced operations in October 2009 with a branch in HCM City. It opened a branch in Ha Noi earlier this year.... 

Vietnam is following a process on easing the dollarization and it hopes the dollarization would be stopped by the end of 2013, according to Dr Le Xuan Nghia, Deputy Chair of the National Finance Supervision Council. These words were spoken by Nghia to answer the questions raised by economists from Ireland, about the dollarization in Vietnam at the workshop on the cooperation of Irish and South East... 

Deputy chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee Le Xuan Nghia has affirmed that there will be no mass sale of banking shares to foreign investors. Nghia made the affirmation following the Prime Minister’s request to the State Bank to consider allowing commercial banks to sell up to 20 per cent of their charter capital to foreign strategic investors. The move shows that the government... 

The State Bank of Vietnam has instructed commercial banks to submit plans by April 21 for holding credit growth this year at less than 20 per cent. Credit this year should priotise lending for manufacturing, agricultural production, rural development, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and support industries and exporters, the State Bank reiterated. However, many smaller banks have expressed concern... 

Vietnam’s central bank should consider cutting the ceiling for foreign bank stakes in domestic banks and reducing the amount of dollars travellers can take abroad without declaration, the government said on Wednesday. The State Bank of Vietnam should propose a new ceiling for foreign ownership of local banks for government consideration, the government said in a statement. Vietnam currently... 

Interbank greenback transactions have stood still, creating a brief lull for local dealers to look for new dollar speculation trends. A central bank report revealed that interbank dollar transaction volumes slightly decreased by $122 million during the third week of February. The volume was $3.2 billion a week after the  local currency’s 9.3 per cent  devaluation on February 11. Greenback transaction... 

While some domestic banks have failed to increase their charter capital to VND3 trillion in line with Decree 141, many foreign banks in Vietnam have expanded their financial capabilities to four, five or even eight times as much as their legal capital. Several experts contend that competition will intensify from 2011. Dr. Le Xuan Nghia, vice head of the National Commission for Financial Supervision,... 

Competition in the banking industry is likely to become increasingly fierce this year as foreign credit institutions have received full rights to operate on the domestic market pursuant to WTO commitments. Effective January 1, foreign banks are allowed to provide the same banking and financial services as Vietnamese banks, including deposits and lending, payment services, leasing, foreign exchange... 

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...