Besides Vietcombank, Techcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, MB, LienVietPostBank, ACB, VPBank, HDBank, SHB, Sacombank, the 2018 list saw new names in Agribank, SCB and Eximbank.

Among the Vietnamese banks, Vietcombank led at the 29th spot in the ranking, up 19 positions from 2017.

Techcombank followed at 76th, up 25 spots.

Some banks made significant leaps in the 2018 ranking. ACB jumped 47 positions against the previous year, VPBank rose 77 positions, SHB was up 45 positions and Sacombank was up 133 positions.

The Asian Banker annually releases its AB500 ranking, an evaluation based on a belief that a strong bank demonstrates long-term profitability from its core businesses.

The study is a look at the financial and business performance of the commercial banking industry in the Asia Pacific region. The study produces two different lists: the first ranks the top 500 banks in the region by asset size, while the second ranks the same 500 banks by strength.

The Asian Banker ranks more than 700 banks from the Asia Pacific region and 300 banks from the Middle East and Central Asia. The focus of the list is on commercial banks and financial holding companies, with a significant proportion of activity in commercial banking.

The AB500 does not include central banks, policy banks, investment banks or finance companies that lack significant deposit-taking franchises or commercial lending businesses.

The Asian Banker’s main sources of data are annual bank reports and statistics provided by central banks or industry associations. In the absence of up-to-date annual reports, the organisation contacts banks directly to source financial results. — VNS