Many banks prioritise seeking foreign strategic investors

Many banks prioritise seeking foreign strategic investors

During this year's AGM season, many banks' boards and shareholders showed strong interest in securing foreign strategic partners.

After the strategic shareholder Australia’s CBA withdrawing capital from VIB after 15 years, VIB is discussing with partners to find one or several suitable investors. Photo vib.com.vn

Many banks consider seeking foreign strategic partners as one of their top priorities.

At the annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM) season this year, both the boards of directors and shareholders of many banks have shown a special interest in finding foreign strategic partners.

At the VIB's AGM, after the strategic shareholder Australia’s CBA withdrawing capital from VIB after 15 years, VIB Chairman Đặng Khắc Vỹ said the VIB Board of Directors is in discussions to find one or several suitable partners.

Meanwhile, informing shareholders, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SHB Đỗ Quang Hiển said they have worked with a number of foreign strategic partners.

Finding a strategic partner must take into account the interests of the bank and shareholders, Hiển notes.

Lê Thu Thủy, vice chairwoman of SeABank's Board of Directors, said currently, SeABank is also in the process of researching potential foreign shareholders, such as shareholders from Japan. The bank has decided not to pay dividends in 2025 to focus on development in the coming years. All remaining undistributed profits after setting aside funds will be used to strengthen financial capacity and supplement business capital.

At Vietcombank's AGM, the board of directors presented shareholders with a plan to offer 543.1 million individual shares, equivalent to 6.5 per cent of the bank's charter capital, to a maximum of 55 investors, including strategic investors and professional securities investors.

According to Lê Anh Tuấn, investment director of Dragon Capital Fund Management Company, the foreign ownership cap regulation of 30 per cent remains the biggest barrier for foreign investors to participate in Vietnamese banks as not all banks still have full foreign room.

Ivan Tan of S&P Global Ratings also believes that the 30 per cent cap on foreign ownership of Vietnamese banks is holding back investments.

However, there are still many supporting factors to welcome the next wave of foreign strategic investors.

The Vietnamese banking sector remains attractive to international investors, especially given the country's strong economic growth in recent years and bright prospects in the future. Việt Nam has been attracting foreign investment flows into the technology and manufacturing sectors, especially as the global supply chain is readjusted.

S&P Global Ratings forecasts that by 2025, Việt Nam will continue to be one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. This growth is likely to be fueled by credit from the banking sector, thereby attracting foreign investors to access this source of capital by becoming strategic shareholders in Vietnamese banks.

In addition, according to Decree 69/2025/NĐ-CP on foreign investors' share purchasing in Vietnamese credit institutions issued last month, Việt Nam will lift its 30 per cent cap on foreign ownership in the banking sector to 49 per cent for some domestic banks from 19 May this year. Accordingly, MBBank, HDBank and VPBank will have their foreign room to increase to 49 per cent after receiving the mandatory transfer of struggling banks as part of the Government’s restructuring of the country's finance industry. 

Bizhub