Banks in Vietnam have ramped up their foreign ownership ratios to strengthen the financial system and attract fresh investments. Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) has increased the foreign ownership ratio of Military Bank (MB) shares from 22.9 percent to 23 percent. Furthermore, the move by VSD was carried out after the bank issued nearly 362 million shares last year to pay dividends.
The banks’ foreign shareholders such as Dragon Capital funds Norges Bank and Amersham Industries hold 1.68 percent and 1.44 percent, making them the largest with ownership rates. The bank plans to divide its treasury shares with its existing shareholders from this quarter to the end of next year’s first quarter.
Nam A Bank, told the media, “it planned to sell shares to foreign investors from now to the end of this year to increase charter capital to nearly VNĐ7 trillion through the issue of 57 million shares to pay dividends at a rate of 12.4878 per cent and a private placement of 143 million shares.”
It is reported that TechcomBank’s board of directors allowed the bank’s ownership limit of 22.4 percent to 22.5 percent of its charter capital. While, LienvietpostBank has also ramped up its ownership rates from 5.5 percent to 10 percent. VietCapitalBank also seeks to implement a new foreign ownership ratio.
The country’s banking and finance are attracting foreign investors. However, experts believe that the ownership ratio of 30 percent capped for foreign investors was a barrier.