Dollars plentiful, banks slash lending rates.Banks in Vietnam cut their dollar lending rates on the interbank market in the past week due to a growing surplus after firms switched to borrowing in VND under a government stimulus package, bankers said.
The Phuong Dong (Oriental Commercial Bank OCB) has become the latest bank to sell shares to a foreign partner. It has signed a contract recently with BNP Paribas to sell an additional 5% of its shares. This will bring the French bank’s stake in OCB to 15%.
Banks rush to raise capital.Banks with charter capital of less than VND 2 trillion (USD 111.7 mln) are striving to boost equity to that level by the end of this year to comply with SBV regulations. Under Decree 141/2006/ND-CP, joint stock commercial banks must have at least VND 3 trillion (USD 167.6 mln) by December 31, 2010, or face dissolution or merger with other banks. Currently, 22 out of 38 domestic joint stock commercial banks still have charter capital of less than VND 2 trillion, according to the SBV.
Agribank says assets rose 26%.State-run Agribank, Vietnam’s largest lender by assets, said its total assets at the end of June rose 25.9% from the end of 2008 to VND 487.31 trillion. Its asset growth in the first six months accelerated from growth of 18.3% for the whole of last year.
Malaysian bank to launch in Vietnam. Malaysia’s Hong Leong Bank Berhad will open a 100% owned bank in HCMC in early October with an initial charter capital of VND 1 trillion (USD 55 mln) that will be tripled next year. It will make Hong Leong the first Southeast Asian bank to set up a bank in Vietnam.
Banks almost to finish line. Most banks have reported satisfactory business results for the first seven months of the year and are confident they will exceed their profit targets for the year. Maritime Bank has reported the pretax profit of 685 bln dong in the first seven months of the year and the profit of 555 bln dong after provisioning, which is equal to 22% of the same period of 2008 and nearly 100% of its 2009 target. ABBank has reported the pretax profit of 38.4 bln for July 2009, an increase of 38% over June 2009. As such, the bank got the profit of 211 bln dong in the first seven months of the year. Techcombank has announced the impressive pretax profit of 1,221 bln dong for the first seven months of the year after provisioning. Saigon bank has reported the pretax profit of 450 bln dong, up by 17.64 over the same period of 2008.
ACB, Standard Chartered ink mutual support pact.The ACB and the Standchart Vietnam signed an agreement that allows the latter to expand its banking coverage in Vietnam by using ACB’s branch network. UK-based Standchart said the agreement aims to provide cash management services to its corporate customers in the country. ACB’s network covers all major cities and provinces in Vietnam. Standchart’s coporate customers will be able to access ACB’s branches to make cash deposits or withdrawals.
