With the foreign ownership cap at several Vietnamese banks raised to 49%, and others actively seeking strategic partners, new billion-dollar opportunities are emerging for international investors to increase their stakes in Vietnam’s banking sector.

Opening the door to foreign capital

Under Decree 69/2025/ND-CP, amending Decree 01/2014 on foreign investors purchasing shares in credit institutions, the total foreign ownership in commercial banks subject to mandatory restructuring (excluding state-owned banks holding more than 50% charter capital) may exceed the previous 30% cap, up to a maximum of 49%, within the approved restructuring period.

Accordingly, three banks undergoing mandatory restructuring - MB, HDBank, and VPBank - will see their foreign ownership caps raised to 49% starting May 19, 2025.

A representative from MB confirmed the bank may sell 100% of its stake in the restructured subsidiary MBV to a foreign investor. The Board of Directors has been authorized to identify potential partners, define legal structures, and manage capital contributions, increases, and equity transfers in accordance with legal and approved restructuring terms.

Post-acquisition, MBV will transition from a 100% state-owned single-member limited liability company to one wholly owned by MB.

Meanwhile, VPBank still has available foreign ownership room, but this could fill quickly by year-end if macroeconomic conditions improve and foreign capital flows return. Raising the cap to 49% is seen as critical for attracting new strategic partners or increasing the stake of existing ones.

At a recent shareholders’ meeting, VPBank’s chairman emphasized, “Expanding foreign ownership is a key opportunity for the bank.”

According to ACB Securities, among the three banks benefiting from the policy, HDBank is most likely to lead in expanding its foreign room. The bank currently lacks a foreign strategic investor, creating ample space to attract one. Should HDBank target a partner seeking 15%–20% ownership, increasing the cap to 49% would be the key to raising capital and positively impacting stock performance.

Rising foreign interest and tight ownership limits

Data from the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC) as of August 18, 2025, shows that foreign investors hold over 14.7 billion shares across 27 listed banks. About 13 of these banks report foreign ownership levels exceeding 15%.

Several banks have nearly maxed out their foreign limits. ACB has already hit the 30% legal cap with more than 1.54 billion shares held by foreign investors. MSB is close behind at 28.48%.

State-owned giants like VietinBank (26.92%) and Vietcombank (21.9%) have high foreign holdings. Other private banks also exceed 20%, including VPBank (25.95%), TPBank (24.86%), and Sacombank (20.39%).

Some banks, such as Techcombank (22.51%) and MB (23.23%), are technically below the cap but have voluntarily locked foreign ownership below the legal maximum.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Banks Association, noted that foreign investors have brought significant improvements in finance, technology, governance, and operations to Vietnamese banks, aligning them more closely with global standards. Therefore, increasing the foreign ownership cap is essential to help banks raise more capital and improve financial capacity.

VIS Rating, in its recent report on Vietnam’s banking sector, stated that lifting the cap will support strong asset growth by attracting new capital from strategic investors.

However, VIS Rating also cautioned that “the success of this opportunity depends on the execution capacity of each bank.” In an increasingly competitive global capital market, only banks that demonstrate transparency, resilience, and a strong commitment to reform will be able to transform the 49% policy into real billion-dollar investments.

Tien Phong