VietNamNet Bridge - As the banking sector has overcome a difficult period, rich investors have poured money into bank shares, including bankers’ wives, children, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters.

VietNamNet Bridge - Foreign investors have poured trillions of dong into shares of large infrastructure companies which promise modest but stable profits. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Bank shares, called ‘king shares’, have seen prices escalate to record highs after a period of decline. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Tens of trillions of dong have been poured into bank shares as investors hope prices will continue to rise thanks to reasonable policies on resolving bad debts.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many banks have said they will pay dividends in shares instead of cash, causing concern among investors. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Cement as well as oil and gas shares were popular in 2014, bank shares in 2015, and steel shares in 2016. What about 2017?

VietNamNet Bridge - Though three more banks will list shares on the UpCom market early next year, foreign investors have few opportunities to invest in Vietnamese banks.

VietNamNet Bridge - It seems that the heyday of bank shares has returned as capital from domestic and foreign investors is flowing into the banking sector.

VietNamNet Bridge - Experts believe that the state should not only sell its shares in 12 large corporations as instructed by the Prime Minister, but also sell shares in other enterprises, including commercial banks.

VietNamNet Bridge - Bank shares have seen prices increasing steadily since early April, making a great contribution to the strong rise of the VN Index, helping the index exceed the resistance threshold of 605-610 points.

VietNamNet Bridge - A series of banks have unanimously expressed their wish to lift the foreign ownership ratio ceiling, saying that the current ceiling of 30 percent is not high enough to attract investors to the banking sector.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many investors, big and small, now are offering to sell bank stakes, but cannot find buyers even though the selling shares are lower than face value. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Commercial banks are sprinting to sell shares of other banks they are holding, so they will not be fined as warned by the State Bank (SBV).

While foreign finance institutions believe that Vietnamese bank shares prices are the most expensive in frontier markets, Vietnamese shareholders are distressed that bank share prices have not increased as expected.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Prime Minister has agreed to raise the ceiling on the foreign-ownership ratio in Vietnamese commercial banks from 30 percent now to “over 30 percent”. However, specific figures were not released.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Despite the anticipated profuse supply, bank shares are believed to be sold well, once big domestic investors, including the powerful SCIC, have loosened the purse-strings.

Commercial banks continue recruiting more officers, and though the average income decreased in 2012, bank officers still had sky high monthly salaries, which were the dream of the workers in other business fields.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) plans are a topic of discussion at many banks’ shareholder’s meetings.