CIMB gets operating licence in Vietnam
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CIMB GROUP Holdings has been granted an operating licence to start a banking business in Vietnam. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the second-largest lender in Malaysia said its subsidiary CIMB Bank Bhd received the operating licence to establish and ope
This followed the receipt of the Approval-in-Principle from the central bank of Vietnam last August.
“With this approval, CIMB will embark on its plans to set up operations in the country to offer a comprehensive range of corporate, commercial and consumer products and services,” the group said.
“CIMB’s first branch in Hanoi is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year,” it said.
According to Vietnamese media reports, the operating licence granted to CIMB was valid for 99 years starting this September. It would allow the group to operate a bank with a registered capital of more than 3.2 trillion Vietnamese dong (Bt4.9 billion).
CIMB’s unit in Vietnam would be the seventh fully foreign-owned bank in the country.
The group’s expansion to Vietnam was in line with its aspirations to strengthen its banking franchise in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations region.
“With this foray into Vietnam, we will be able to further solidify our position as the leading Asean bank and offer the much needed regional connectivity to intermediate trade and investment flows,” CIMB group chief executive Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said last year.
