Vietnam

Maritime Bank and Vinacomin signed an agreement to cooperate in many fields. Under the agreement, Maritime Bank will provide the State-owned group such services as local and international payment, credits, risk management, and foreign exchange. In addition, the bank will provide consulting and financial services to raise long-term capital for Vinacomin in local and international financial markets. Moreover, the two sides also agreed to consider opportunities to jointly invest in projects. Le Minh Chuan, CEO of Vinacomin, said in a statement that Vinacomin’s capital demand was around US$1.6 billion annually to fund its projects. Therefore, the support from credit institutions like Maritime Bank is very important for the group, he said.

As many as 50% of issued ATMs in Vietnam are unused, according to statistics from the Vietnam Bank Card Association.

Sai Gon commercial Bank launched a preferential program to purchase dollars at 0.1-0.3% higher than listed prices.

GPBank passed the plan for this year's target of 35 trillion dong in total assets up 26 percent.

Vietnam-Germany Steel Pipe Joint Stock Co signed a short term credit contract worth 100 billion dong ABBank's Vinh Phuc branch to support its working capital.

OCB has secured central bank permission to sell another 5 percent of stake to BNP Paribas.

Maritime Bank will settle foreign currency transactions for Electricity of Viet Nam subsidiary, Northern Power Company, and arrange capital for the company's projects as well as projects undertaken by its member companies.

Vietnam International Bank expects its gross profit to jump 76 percent this year to nearly 1.85 trillion dong or $90 million.

Six of 17 banks in Ho Chi Minh City are struggling to slash credits for non-productive sectors to 22% of their total outstanding loans.

Citigroup Inc. took a stake in a Vietnamese brokerage firm, betting that once the economy's rampant inflation slows, foreign investors will flock back to the country.

Citibank Vietnam is now a member of the Vietnam Bank Card ATM network.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung announced that Vietnam will work closely with Laos to promote the training of Lao lecturers, undergraduates and postgraduates in finance and banking in Vietnam.

Sacombank will apply the demand deposit rates for the individuals and institutions that have opened the non-term payment accounts in dong at Sacombank.

PGBank raised its total deposits in 2010 to 13.995 trillion dong, based on its recently released 2010 annual reports.

HSBC Bank launched its high-interest online savings account to help their personal financial customers earn bigger returns on their savings.

OceanBank pledged to provide financial and banking services to Vinalines including lending for purchasing ships, advising card services, and others.