Vietnam licenses unit of Malaysian bank CIMB
Vietnam licenses unit of Malaysian bank CIMB
The State Bank of Vietnam has granted a license for Malaysia’s second largest lender CIMB to open a unit here, which will be the seventh fully foreign-owned bank in the country.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Southeast Asia’s fifth largest bank by assets, has been allowed to open CIMB Bank Berhad with a registered capital of more than VND3.2 trillion (nearly US$144 million). The license is valid for 99 years starting this September.
CIMB also has plans to enter Myanmar and the Philippines as well, as part of its drive to expand the fast-growing Southeast Asian markets. The new bank will join other fully foreign-owned banks. HSBC, ANZ, Standard Chartered Bank, Shinhan Bank and Hong Leong Bank had a combined registered capital of more than US$814 million at he end of 2015.
Vietnam's central bank in March licensed the first Malaysian-owned lender, Public Bank Berhad, and in August also approved a proposal by Woori, South Korea’s biggest lender in terms of consolidated assets, to establish a unit.
