Vietnamplus

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) investor group is now no longer a major shareholder of the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank), after selling more than 55.7 million shares of the bank.

The Southeast Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SeABank) on January 8 announced a before-tax profit of more than 1.39 trillion VND (59.8 million USD) in 2019, jumping 123.4 percent from the previous year.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a resolution to boost cashless payments in the country.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) aims to again curb the inflation below 4 percent and sustain the monetary market this year, SBV Governor Le Minh Hung told a teleconference of the banking sector in Hanoi on January 2.

The Southeast Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SeABank) has completed the early redemption of all special bonds at the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), thereby helping the bank proactively monitor and handle bad debts.

Though the fiscal year 2019 is yet to end, early reports suggest major commercial banks in Vietnam will enjoy big fat earnings this year.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has said it would continue to direct credit institutions to strictly control credit in potentially-risky areas such as real estate and securities, especially Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Build-Transfer (BT) transport projects.

The Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank, HOSE: HDB) has reported impressive results in the third quarter of this year, with pre-tax profits increasing by a record 51 percent year-on-year to over 1.23 trillion VND (53.4 million USD).

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) inaugurated its representative office in the US, on November 1.

The ratio of bad debts in the domestic banking system will be dropped below 3 percent by the end of 2020, making contribution to restructuring the macroeconomic policy.

Nearly 9.6 trillion VND (417.3 million USD) worth of bad debts were handled each month from August 15, 2017 to August 31, 2019, or 4.7 trillion VND higher than that during the 2012 – 2017 period.

Vietnam is on track to reach its 6.6-6.8 percent growth target this year. However, the country needs to remain cautious about external risks.

The "Vietnam: Strengthening banking sector soundness and development" project is expected to help the State Bank of Vietnam to better anticipate and increase resilience to shocks.

The World Bank (WB) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on October 1 inked a grant agreement worth 2.2 million USD to implement a project aimed at strengthening the soundness and resilience of Vietnam’s banking sector.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Governor or the directors of SBV’s municipal and provincial branches will be able to lace credit institutions under the SBV’s special control, starting from next month.

Many banks are auctioning mortgaged assets, mainly real estate, worth trillions of VND to speed up the resolution of non-performing loans.

The Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) plans to issue more than 3.5 million shares for its employees in the form of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) at the price of 10,000 VND per share.

A highlight of the banks' business performance in the first six months was their impressive before-tax profit.

Though many banks have posted positive profits in the first half of 2019, their bad debts have continually increased in the wake of high credit growth in risky business segments.

The Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank) has reported a record pre-tax profit of 2,211 billion VND (94.26 million USD) in the first half of the year.