VPBank to sell more stakes to Singaporean partner

Hanoi (VNA) - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has allowed the Vietnam Bank for Non-state Enterprises (VPBank) to sell an additional 5 percent stake to its strategic Singaporean partner, the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC).

Approval from the SBV Governor will help the OCBC, the third largest
financial group in Singapore , increase its stake in VPBank from 10
percent to 15 percent.

Since March 2006 after the OCBC became a strategic partner of VPBank, the
two sides have inked a number of cooperation agreements, including the OCBC's
commitment to spend 8.2 million USD on training personnel in three years for
VPBank.

The cooperation between the two banks is aimed at making VPBank the leading
retail bank in Vietnam .

VPBank has a charter capital of 2 trillion VND and boasts a network of 140
branches and transaction offices throughout the country.

Last month, t he SBV permitted the Southern Bank to sell an additional 5
percent stake to the United Overseas Bank (UOB), helping the Singaporean
investor raise its stake in the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank to 15 percent.

The SBV has also given the green light for the Southeast Asia commercial
joint stock bank (SeABank) to sell a 15 percent stake to the Societe General
SA and the Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) to sell 25 percent of its shares to
four foreign partners.

The four partners to buy shares include the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation (SMBC), the VOF Investment Limited-British Virgin Islands, the
Mirae Asset Exim Investment Limited (MAE) of the Republic of Korea's Mirae
Asset, and the Mirae Asset Maps Opportunity Vietnam Equity Balanced Fund 1
(OVEBF).-Enditem