HANOI: Recently Vietinbank said the Government and the State Bank of Viet Nam should allow it to sell bigger stakes to foreign investors to make its offer more attractive for them. It hopes that it would succeed in its quest and the foreign investors can buy 40 per cent of Vietnamese banks, double the old ratio.
ABBank has already increased the stakes held in it by foreign strategic partners to 30 per cent, with Malaysia’s Maybank owning 20 per cent and the World Bank’s IFC, 10 per cent. The bank now wants the Government to enlarge foreign ownership to 49 per cent.
Earlier this year Saigon Commercial Bank decided to increase its chartered capital to over VND14.29 trillion (US$635.28 million), and sold over 15 per cent to foreign investors to realise this target.
The bank has revealed plans to increase its capital by a further VND1 trillion by year-end by selling more to foreign investors. It is willing to sell bigger stakes to the foreign investors if allowed by the Government.
After selling a 40 per cent stake in its HDFinance to Japan’s Credit Saison, HDBank is next considering selling stakes in itself to strategic foreign investors possibly from Europe, the US or Japan.
DongA Bank had been hoping to sell 49 per cent to foreign investors and increase its legal capital to VND10 trillion, but was forced to put the plan on hold after being placed under the State Bank of Viet Nam supervision recently.
Analysts said it is necessary for local banks to strengthen their capital base by raising funds from various resources, including foreign, to improve their finances and sharpen their competitive edge as the country integrates increasingly.
But foreign investors are not too keen to buy stakes in Vietnamese lenders since jointly their stakes are limited to 30 per cent in a bank and individually to 20 per cent, meaning often they cannot demand a role in the running of the banks.
The Government is considering changing the law to allow foreign investors larger stakes in its latest bid to rebuild a financial sector battered by bad debts. A new decree would soon be issued to permit foreigners to buy stakes “over and above the current 30 per cent ceiling”, a high-ranking Government official has said.
