Investors in HCM City can benefit from the most modern and comprehensive infrastructure system in Vietnam, along with open and supportive investment regulations and policies.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has requested credit institutions and branches of foreign banks to boost consumer lending as part of efforts to prevent loan sharks who have targeted vulnerable people.

Banks will continue to tighten lending in risky sectors including securities, real estate, financial, and tourism business, seeing higher credit risks in the remaining months of this year, a survey carried out by the Monetary Forecasting and Statistics Department has said.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has requested local credit institutions and foreign banks’ restrict lending concentration for real estate and construction and consumption sectors, and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects.

SSI Securities Corporation, one of leading securities firms in Vietnam, on December 15 signed a contract for a 85-million-USD unsecured loan with a group of nine foreign banks led by the Union Bank of Taiwan (UBOT), the largest bank of Taiwan (China).

Commercial banks are trying to boost individual consumer loans, especially to home and car buyers, since credit growth had slowed due to low capital demand from businesses.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a document requesting credit organisations and branches of foreign banks to expand credit activities serving production, business and consumption as part of efforts to limit “black credit”.

Capital difficulties are putting pressure on some banks struggling to meet the central bank’s Basel II deadline of early next year, but experts suggest the central bank should not delay the process.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has warned Vietnamese credit institutions and foreign banks in the country to be cautious before working with peer-to-peer (P2P) lending companies as there are many risks related to the service.

The Government should help Vietnamese banks lure capital and experience from prestigious foreign banks so as to help local firms develop sustainably, experts said.

The Government plans not to license any more wholly foreign-owned banks in Vietnam but encourages foreign banks to buy weak domestic banks, said Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue.

Foreign banks in Vietnam have been expanding their transaction networks and increasing their charter capital in a bid to increase market share, especially in the retail banking sector.

Credit institutions and foreign banks will be allowed to grant loans to some prioritised borrowers in excess of lending limits regulated by law beginning next month.

HSBC will continue to boost sustained investment in Vietnam, which has become an important market for the bank, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Vietnam Pham Hong Hai told the Vietnam News Agency.

Some foreign banks have assured that they will retain their presence in Vietnam after withdrawing capital from some Vietnamese partners recently, noting that the country is still an attractive market.

Many banks throughout the country need to recruit more employees for their newly opened branches this year or to replace staff members who quit their jobs before the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a document asking credit institutions and branches of foreign banks to push the resolving of non-performing loans in 2018.

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) has ended its “12-year marriage” with the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), offloading its entire holding of more than 154 million shares in the Vietnamese bank.

The Vietnamese Government’s latest support policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and foreign banks’ assistance for their international trade activities were updated at a workshop in Hanoi on October 31.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is planning to rank credit institutions; however, it said the ranking results will not be publicised due to the delicacy of the issue.