Vietnam

Nine commercial joint stock banks have joined the Smarlink connection in July.

LienVietPostBank made its debut in Hanoi on July 29.

The Military Bank signed a strategic contract with Deloitte Viet Nam for support in corporate governance and minimise business risks.

International Finance Corporation has loaned a record US$505 million to Vietnamese banks for the fiscal year 2011.

Asia Commercial Bank has launched a new service that allows its cardholders to transfer money to other banks through automatic teller machines.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is in final talks to buy a stake in Vietcombank for as much as ¥60 billion.

After wrapping up the deal on selling 10 percent of stakes to the International Financial Corporation IFC, Vietinbank continues to issue more shares to the Bank of Novascotia.

Dong A Bank posted a pretax profit of VND676 billion in the first six months, covering 52% of their annual target.

Overseas remittance via Vietnam banks is up.

BNP Paribas inked an agreement to raise its stake in Orient Commercial Bank from 15% to 20% after obtaining approval from the central bank. The French bank will acquire 27 million shares issued by OCB to increase its chartered capital from VND2.73 trillion to VND3 trillion. BNP Paribas has been the strategic foreign investor of OCB since 2007. The two banks now have strengthened cooperation in the area of trade finance, helping OCB to link with trade centers of BNP Paribas in 80 countries worldwide.

Ficombank inked a deal with  Remit2Vietnam in transferring remittances from overseas to Vietnam.

ABBank posted a pretax profit of VND 307.6 billion in the first six months, meeting 46.3% of the year target.

The Vietnam Eximbank allocated VND 2 trillion to lend local exporters at interest rates of 19.5% p.a. The loan program lasts for 6 months, designed to create favourable conditons for enterprises to access cheap bank loans as requested by the State Bank of Vietnam. The interest rate of 19.5% p.a. was subject to apply for loans to add working capital, purchase goods, materials, andnpay for production costs, etc, it added.  

Banks in Vietnam will face a fine of up to VND100 million if they buy or sell foreign currencies at unofficial rates or impose illegal transaction fees on customers.

Commonewealth Bank of Australian and Singapore's UOB can raise their staeks in two Vietanmese banks to the 20 % ceiling for foreign ownership according to Vietnam's central bank.

Bao Viet Bank raised demand deposit interest rates for businesses to the highest of 12% per annum.