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HSBC, Australian Banks Up Vietnam Stakes


Updated: 4:13 a.m. PT July 9, 2007
HONG KONG - HSBC will spend $33.7 million to raise its stake in Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or Techcombank, to 15 percent, a spokeswoman for the British bank said Monday.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said it would buy 10 percent of Vietnamese investment banking business Saigon Securities Inc. for $88 million

The State Bank of Vietnam, the country's central bank, has approved the increase, the first time Vietnam has allowed a foreign bank to own 15 percent of a Vietnamese bank, Techcombank said in statement Monday.



HSBC Holdings PLC's Asian unit, Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., already has a 10 percent stake in the bank that it bought in Dec. 2005 for $17.3 million, said Vinh Tran, an HSBC spokeswoman in Hong Kong.

"Obviously they have done quite well and the value has gone up," she said.

Vietnam passed a decree in April allowing foreign banks to own 15 percent of domestic commercial banks, with the option to increase the holding to 20 percent on approval from the government. HSBC said it in a statement released Friday that it will also apply to increase its stake in Techcombank to 20 percent.

"Raising our investment in Techcombank will allow us to expand our presence in one of Asia's fastest growing economies, and reflects our focus on emerging markets," said Vincent Cheng, chairman of Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., in the Friday statement.

In addition to increasing its holding in the Vietnamese bank, HSBC has also committed $13.5 million to technical service assistance for Techcombank over five years, Cheng said.

Techcombank's assets were worth 25 trillion Vietnamese $1.6 billion at the end of May, according to HSBC. The bank, one of Vietnam's largest joint stock banks, serves almost 200,000 retail customers and over 13,000 commercial customers through a network of more than 100 branches.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Senior Managing Director Bob Edgar said in a statement that its investment in Saigon Securities would benefit ANZ's existing institutional capital markets business in the fast-growing Vietnamese economy.

ANZ, Australia's third largest bank, was one of the first foreign banks to open in Vietnam and said it regards expansion in the country as one of its highest priorities.

ANZ already has retail and institutional businesses in communist Vietnam, an investment in Sacombank and an agreement with Sacombank to form a credit card joint-venture.

Edgar said the two groups have been cooperating for some time on corporate bond issues for large Vietnamese companies.

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