VietNamNet Bridge – Many CEOs have left their offices to hand over power to newcomers. But the newcomers have also left after short, several-month stays. The CEO seats have changed owners regularly.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Only one commercial bank, SHB, has officially announced its plan to acquire a finance company this year. However, analysts say this is not an unusual phenomenon.

 VietNamNet Bridge - According to the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh, this is the highest level ever. Binh also pledged that interest rates will not exceed 1% from now until year’s end.

VietNamNet Bridge – The National Financial Supervisory Commission has reported that the level of non-performing debt on the books of Vietnam’s banks has sunk to around 9 percent.

 VietNamNet Bridge – While the State Bank of Vietnam believes that the merger of small and weak banks into larger and stronger ones will help speed up the bank restructuring process, experts don’t think this is a perfect solution.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Mergers and turnovers in top management are the two outstanding trends in the banking sector of Vietnam this year.

 VietNamNet Bridge – As credit gets stuck, banks have had to inject their money into government bonds.

 VietNamNet Bridge – International institutions are remaining doubtful about the ability of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) to settle bad debts.

 VietNamNet Bridge –Vietnamese banks are using the most advanced security technologies available in the world for their systems, according to experts.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Cross-ownership, long considered a serious threat to the banking system, is on the wane, according to Dao Minh Tu, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam. Some economists, however, disagree.

VietNamNet Bridge – A credit package worth VND120 trillion (US$5.7 billion) would help develop the local property market, said Phan Thanh Mai, general director of the Viet Nam Bank for Construction.  

Making long term deposits instead of short term, or putting money into other investment channels--is the way the businesses keeping big money in their coffers tries after the ceiling bank interest rate reduced to 6 percent per annum.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Foreign investors have said the government of Vietnam proves to be very mean about the rises of the foreign ownership ratios in Vietnamese banks.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Banks in HCMC disbursed around VND300 billion out of the VND30-trillion credit package tailored for the real estate sector as of last Thursday.

Under the government’s Resolution No. 15, state owned commercial banks can buy the stakes of finance companies and banks to be sold by State owned enterprises (SOEs) during their capital withdrawal process.

Controversy is surrounding claims by Newsweek to have found the creator of the Bitcoin virtual currency.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Many major banks have announced a fall in profits for both last quarter and last year, leading to payroll cuts to reduce costs.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Issuing co-branded cards proves to be a new way for commercial banks to follow in the context of the credit card market in Vietnam getting saturated.

The State Securities Commission (SSC) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have urged commercial banks to list their shares on the bourse to make it easier to control the banks’ finance situation.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Bank executives are mulling ways to achieve credit growth this year amid a continuing tough business climate.