The race to raise charter capital is intensifying as major banks simultaneously expand their financial resources to meet Basel III standards and strengthen long-term competitiveness.

Six Vietnamese banks with charter capital above VND70 trillion have all announced ambitious plans to sharply increase their capital scale in 2026, with five of them expected to surpass the VND100 trillion threshold for the first time.

As of December 31, 2025, six domestic commercial banks had charter capital exceeding VND70 trillion, including: Vietcombank with VND83.557 trillion, MB VND80.550 trillion, VPBank VND79.339 trillion, VietinBank VND77.669 trillion, Techcombank VND70.862 trillion and BIDV VND70.213 trillion.

The top 6 banks above have had their charter capital increase plans approved by the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) to be implemented right this year, opening a race among major banks. The order of capital scale will also change by the end of this year.

Specifically, VietinBank, VPBank, Techcombank, BIDV, and MB are expected to have charter capital scales exceeding VND100 trillion.

Techcombank expects to break through from 5th position to lead the system in charter capital scale by issuing more than 4.28 billion shares to existing shareholders, with an issuance rate of 60 percent (shareholders owning 100 shares will receive 60 new shares). This plan will help Techcombank's charter capital increase by VND42.517 trillion.

Additionally, this bank is also issuing more than 35.8 million ESOP shares with a par value of VND10,000/share to increase charter capital by VND358.7 billion.

After completing the two issuances, Techcombank's charter capital is expected to increase by VND42.876 trillion, from VND70.862 trillion to VND113.738 trillion.

VPBank's ranking in charter capital scale will also improve by one level, from third to second, as the bank approved a plan to increase charter capital from over VND79.339 trillion to over VND106 trillion through two rounds of bonus share distribution at a rate of 26.04 percent and a private placement to foreign shareholders.

For VietinBank, charter capital is expected to increase to over VND105 trillion after using all remaining profits after setting up funds to pay dividends in shares. However, this plan still needs approval from competent authorities.

At BIDV, the bank said it had just completed the private placement of more than 258 million shares to investors, or 3.75 percent of outstanding shares. Currently, BIDV continues to implement the plan to increase capital from the charter capital supplement reserve fund and retained earnings from 2023. If the stock dividend payment plan is approved by the authorities, BIDV could raise its charter capital to over VND105 trillion.

The plan to raise charter capital beyond one hundred trillion was also approved by Military Bank (MB), from VND80.550 trillion to a maximum of VND102.687 trillion, or an increase of 27.5 percent. MB's capital increase plan is implemented according to three main components: paying dividends in shares, offering shares to existing shareholders, and private placement.

Vietcombank is also not staying out of the "massive" capital increase race as the AGM approved a plan to increase charter capital from the reserve fund for charter capital increase. Specifically, the bank expects to issue a maximum of more than 1 trillion shares, thereby increasing charter capital by a maximum of VND10.687 trillion.

After completing the plan this year, Vietcombank's charter capital will increase from VND83.557 trillion to nearly VND94 trillion. However, amid the breakthrough of the aforementioned banks, Vietcombank may lose its leading position, dropping to 6th.

According to the banks, increasing charter capital aims to consolidate financial capacity, meet safety indicators, improve risk management, and create space to expand investment and develop business activities.

Small banks also accelerate

In addition to the billion-dollar race, the pressure to meet Basel III standards has also caused small banks to race to increase capital this year. Among them, National Citizen Bank (NCB) recently approved a plan to increase charter capital by VND10 trillion through private placement to strengthen financial capacity, reaching VND29.279 trillion.

Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of NCB Bui Thi Thanh Huong stated that if the capital increase plan is completed, it will be one of the important factors helping the bank have a solid financial foundation and improve capital costs; especially ensuring capital adequacy ratios as prescribed. If considering the capital increase rate, NCB is the bank with the strongest growth, with charter capital tripling in just 2 years.

Orient Commercial Bank (OCB) plans to issue bonus shares at a rate of 15 percent, equivalent to more than 399 million shares and a total issuance value of nearly VND4 trillion, thereby increasing charter capital to more than VND30.625 trillion. The expected implementation time is in 2026, immediately after approval from competent authorities.

Tuan Nguyen