Viet Nam a key growth market in Asia and believed it would play an increasingly powerful economic ro

Standard Chartered Bank seeks expansion

(09-03-2008)

LONDON â?" Standard Chartered Bank yesterday received initial approval from PM *************** to sign incorporation deals with two Vietnamese business partners, according to the bankâ?Ts release.

"The granting of a license to incorporate will be a springboard for the development of our consumer and wholesale banking businesses in Viet Nam, which have grown strongly over the past year," Ashok Sud, Standard Chartered Viet Namâ?Ts CEO said in the release.

"Full approval will enable us to rapidly grow our distribution network across Viet Nam and provide a new range of innovative consumer and SME (small to medium size enterprise) banking products and services," Sud added.

Standard Chartered expects to open as many as 20 to 30 new branches in Viet Nam over the next three to four years.

Concurrently, during PM Dungâ?Ts visit to Britain, Standard Chartered Bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) valued at up to US$600 million with Viet Nam Industrial Commercial Bank (Vietinbank) and an MoU worth up to $200 million with Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines).

Standard Chartered and VietinBank have agreed to co-operate in areas like settlement services, inter-bank lending, loan syndication, rating advisory, bond underwriting and fund raising. Standard Chartered Bank will also provide advice on VietinBankâ?Ts overseas network expansion and the development of other financial banking services.

Under the terms of the MoU with Vinalines, Standard Chartered will support Vinalines in the design and implementation of market products and assist Vinalines in evaluating market risks and adopting hedging solutions. The bank will also consider arranging a $200 million loan syndication facility for Vinalines this year.

The bank announced it considered Viet Nam a key growth market in Asia and believed it would play an increasingly powerful economic role in the region. The bank committed to the development of the banking industry in the country and to aggressively expanding their presence.â?" VNS