The charter capital increase was then associated with a series of big changes of the bank, including the logo and the new brand recognition system. And there was the hand of Ngo Chi Dung as VP Bank’s president in the changes.

Dung is a banker with ‘Eastern Europe origin’. He studied in Moscow and obtained a doctorate in economics. Before joining VP Bank, he was the member of BOD of VIB in 1996-2004.

In 2005-2010, Dung was the chair of KBG Group in Russia and deputy chair of Techcombank.

VP Bank’s charter capital had reached VND9.1 trillion by the third quarter of 2016, while the total assets were VND205 trillion. This means the bank’s charter capital increased by 450 times after 13 years.

Maritime Bank’s Tran Anh Tuan and Nguyen Nguyet Huong

Tuan and Huong are a well known couple in the banking sector. While Tuan is chair of Maritime Bank’s BOD, Huong is the bank’s chair of the founders’ council.

Tuan studied and started his business in Russia 10 years before he returned to Vietnam in 1996. 

Tuan and Huong held the most important positions (CEO and chair of BOD) at VIDGroup. At first, VIDGroup was introduced as having six subsidiaries, but now it has 12 subsidiaries with huge investments in infrastructure and real estate.

In 2007, VIDgroup bought Maritime Bank stakes from Vinalines. 

After becoming Maritime Bank’s chair, Tuan has taken drastic measures to settle bad debts. By 2015, the non-performing loan ratio had fallen to below 3 percent as requested by SBV.

HDBank’s Nguyen Thanh Hung and Nguyen Phuong Thao

In Vietnam, Thao is better known as the CEO of Vietjet Air, the private air carrier which has made many aircraft purchases recently.

However, she is a big banker as well. As deputy chair of HDBank, Thao made her mark with a series of M&A deals, including the admission of Dai A Bank into HD Bank. The bank also bought SGVF, a finance company, and then sold a 49 percent stake to a Japanese partner and renamed it HD Saison.

Nguyen Thanh Hung is now chair of the founding council of Sovico Holdings, where Thao is chair of BOD. Sovico invests in finance companies and banks and has been present in 10 countries. 

Thanh Mai