VietNamNet Bridge – Banks are continuing to struggle with fast rising potentially unrecoverable bad debts.

 Five VN companies in Asia Pacific’s top 500 retailers; S&P rates Viet Nam for stability; First domestic exchange-traded fund to track VN30 Index; VietJet launches mega promotion; MobiFone to get charter capital of $600m

VietNamNet Bridge – Several banks have recently presented plans or expressed intentions to complete mergers even as the nation continues to speed up the restructuring of credit institutions.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Small banks merging into bigger banks is becoming a growing trend in Vietnam. This is what the State Bank wants to see to implement its plan to halve the number of commercial banks after three years.

 Shipper initiates bankruptcy process; DOC issues preliminary decision on shrimp duty; Sacombank shareholders greenlight merger; Each Vietnamese bears USD886 in public debt; Vietnam’s new e-customs system proves effective

 VietNamNet Bridge – Many market observers believe that Sacombank will benefit less from its merger with Southern Bank.

VietNamNet Bridge – An impending merger between Southern Bank and Sacombank is the latest move in Vietnam’s banking restructuring process.  

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Southern Bank – Sacombank merger deal, once completed, would help Tram Be, one of the Vietnamese most influential tycoons in the banking sector, “kill two birds with one stone.”

 Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, or Sacombank, is going to submit to the State Bank of Vietnam the project on merging the bank with Southern Commercial Bank, said Sacombank chairman Pham Huu Phu.

 Sacombank, Phuong Nam could merge; HSBC: Vietnam’s CPI to rise 6.5 percent; Bird flu takes toll on livestock industry; Thousands of businesses set up in two months; Ministry maintains petrol retail prices

 VietNamNet Bridge – The total foreign investor stakes in Sacombank (STB)'s equity could be increased to 30 per cent, the maximum level stipulated by the current regulations for lending institutions.

 VietNamNet Bridg – So many commercial banks have announced the big changes in their structure recently that people have to raise a question what is happening with the banking sector.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Inward remittances via HCM City banks topped US$3.7 billion in the first 10 months of the year, and are expected to reach $4.8 billion this year,

VietNamNet Bridge – Two An Binh Bank (ABBank) officials were arrested on Wednesday for lending VND80 billion to the Phuong Nam Foodstuffs Company which accumulated VND1.6 trillion in unsecured loans.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s prime minister has confirmed that in the near future, the country might hike the foreign investment cap on local banks to a maximum of 49 per cent.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Investors are again questioning whether Eximbank will merge with Sacombank after a large number of shares were traded through negotiation methods and there were changes in the bank's managing board.

 VietNamNet Bridge – A number of banks have unveiled real-estate loan packages targeting feasible property projects and mortgages to intensify credit growth.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Many major commercial banks are making efforts to seek foreign strategic partners to sharpen their competitive edge, according to a report in Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper.

VietNamNet Bridge – Strong speculative trading helped lift shares on both national stock exchanges last week while heavy negotiations trading on bank shares on the HCM City exchange attracted investor curiosity.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s inspectors have come to a conclusion that the loans to Dang Van Thanh and his family’s companies some years ago were illegal, forcing Thanh to pay debts to reduce the outstanding loans to the allowed level.