The developments of the stock market and the unsatisfactory national economic situation are making commercial banks think twice before deciding on the time for their listing although many listing plans have been approved at their shareholders’ meetings.

The Dong A Bank Board of Directors once again put its listing plan on the table at the annual shareholders’ meeting on March 12, after this plan was unable to be implemented late last year when the stock market was facing many difficulties.

Now, the bank plans to list its shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) in the fourth quarter of this year.

Dong A Bank General Director Tran Phuong Binh said that the decision aims to create conditions for the bank to complete the raising of its chartered capital to 6 trillion VND from the current 4.5 trillion VND, including 900 billion VND to be sold to foreign partners, before it offers shares to the market.

The Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) also decided to suspend its listing due to unfavourable developments in the second half of last year though it had got the State Bank approval for its listing on HoSE in the second quarter of 2010.

“We will continue making preparations and selecting an appropriate time for listing,” said MB Deputy General Director Cao Thi Thuy Nga.

Despite finishing its plan to raise chartered capital to 3 trillion VND under its roadmap, Western Bank still proves to be cautious about its listing. According to the bank’s leaders, the listing will be only implemented if market conditions are favourable.

At present, six banks are listing shares on HoSE and HNX, including STB, VCB, CTG, EIB, ACB and SHB. In the context of the declining stock market, these banks’ shares see few transactions and the situation is predicted not to improve immediately due to unsatisfactory economic developments.

Experts said that prices of banking shares are yet to recover and may decrease due to the massive issuance wave of banks./.