Foreign banks allowed to raise capital

The State Bank of Viet Nam granted licences to branches of three foreign banks, allowing them to increase their charter capital on Dec. 22.

The HCM City Branch of the Huanan Commercial Bank Limited plans to raise its capital from US$15 million to $65 million and Chinatrust's HCM City branch will lift capital from $15 million to $50 million.

And HCM City and Ha Noi branches of the Mizuho Corporate Bank Limited want to steeply lift their capital from $15 million each to $133.5 million.

By October 31, Viet Nam had a total of 71 foreign credit institutions and 48 representative offices. They now hold assets valued at more than VND420 trillion ($20 billion), or 11.25 per cent of the entire finance sector.

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