DongA Bank on Wednesday signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to provide a trade finance guarantee facility worth US$20 million under the IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP). IFC will issue guarantees to assist DongA in fulfilling obligations towards beneficiary banks in trade finance transactions. To reach the agreement,... 

Commercial banks are striving to applying several risk control measures, essentially improving credit quality and reducing bad debt, as they confront a worsening problem with non-performing loans. The problem of non-performing loans turning into dead loans is predicted to worsen this year, when enterprises face more difficulties in carrying out their production and business operations. A senior official... 

The local gold price still fluctuated wildly on Tuesday, rising by VND1.5 million from the previous day to VND45.6 million a tael, but the difference between the local and global prices narrowed after the central bank swiftly announced gold import quotas. However, the dollar also entered the upward price spiral as bullion traders needed the greenback to import gold. The precious metal opened up strongly... 

Xpress Money has announced tie-ups with Vietnam International Bank (VIB) and DongA Commercial Joint Stock Bank. The new agreement between VIB and Xpress Money will offer overseas workers the advantage of sending money to their dependants to 130 locations in Vietnam. The beneficiaries can collect the money in US dollars. The deal between DongA Commercial Joint Stock Bank and Xpress Money will bring... 

Bank profit margins in 2011’s first half were split on the back of economic uncertainties. Ho Chi Minh City-based Sacombank raked in VND301 billion ($14.5 million) worth in profits in June 2011 alone, driving up its pretax profit margins in the first six months to VND1.515 trillion ($73.2 million) or 56 per cent of the year’s projection, said general director Tran Xuan Huy. Interest-based incomes... 

Citibank Vietnam has become a member of the Vietnam Bank Card network (VNBC) after signing an agreement with ViNa Brilliant Card Company as the network operator, the bank said on Monday. This partnership will allow Citibank Vietnam customers to access their accounts and banking services free of charge at 1,800 VNBC member banks’ ATMs nationwide, in addition to Citibank’s more than 30,000 ATMs... 

Industry insiders expect banks’ interest rates to cool off from 2011’s third quarter. Lending rates between banks on the interbank market have slid during the past two weeks lower than the ceiling deposit rate of 14 per cent, per year. On June 16, 2011 State Bank governor Nguyen Van Giau forwarded Dispatch 4605/NHNN-CSTT to commercial banks asking them to strictly abide by regulations relevant... 

The fact that the State Bank of Vietnam has set up the interest rate ceiling on dollar deposits at 2 percent, to be applied to individual deposits and 0.5 percent to institutional deposits; plus the measures to strictly control the foreign exchange market, have brought fat profits to some banks and big worries to others. Exchange rate down, making bankers happy After June 2, when the State Bank of... 

Commercial banks’ gold lending will no longer be allowed as of the first of May. Banks are therefore forced to hammer out a way out for their gold deposit assets. The central bank’s Circular 11 dated April 20, 2011, rules that credit institutions shall not give loans in gold to customers and counterparts, including gold in credit contracts which have been signed but yet to be executed. According... 

A surprise move yesterday which saw several commercial banks raising dollar selling prices to the maximum permitted level and then reducing prices late in the afternoon triggered concerns about dollar trading in the system. The State Bank of Vietnam yesterday set the interbank rate at VND20,673.00 per US dollar, allowing commercial banks to trade the dollar between VND20,466.27 and VND20,879.73. The...