VietNamNet Bridge - It is still unclear how GP Bank will restructure itself: will it be nationalized by the State Bank or successfully call for more capital?

VietNamNet Bridge - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has released an ultimatum for commercial banks that they must sell all their bad debts by the end of the third quarter of 2015.

Commercial banks have postponed listing their shares on the bourse, as requested by the State Bank (SBV) in an effort to make banking operations transparent.

VietNamNet Bridge - Commercial banks have shown determination to increase lending in 2015, while businesses are believed to have better conditions to apply for loans. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam's central bank's plans to consolidate the country's banking system, and introduce new rules involving ownership structure under Circular 36 are likely to benefit the sector, said Fitch Ratings.

VietNamNet Bridge - The World Gold Council (WGC) has reported that Vietnam consumed 69.1 tons of gold in 2014. However, Vietnamese experts disagree with that assessment.

Credit institutions have been forced to sell their non-performing loans (NPLs) to national debt dealer Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) to meet regulated deadlines.

VietNamNet Bridge – A Hanoian got shocked after he was told that he can receive the sum of money big enough to buy three kilos of pork after 20 years of depositing money at bank.

VietNamNet Bridge – Both VietinBank and PG Bank have confirmed their merger and acquisition (M&A) deal, as have Vietcombank and Saigon Bank, Sacombank and Southern Bank, BIDV and MHB, and Maritime Bank and MDB.

VietNamNet Bridge – Economists from Hanoi National University have urged the government to adjust the dong/dollar exchange rate, while the National Finance Supervision Council said stabilizing the exchange rate is a top priority.

VietNamNet Bridge – Commercial banks have too many functions in Vietnam, from providing loans to businesses to funding long-term infrastructure projects, from lending to fund securities investments to trading government bonds.

Only when Vietnam tightens fiscal policy and loosens monetary policy will it be able to make a breakthrough in allocating resources, which would untie the knot of the national economy, experts have said.

 Vietnam must develop its capital market to avoid the current dependence of long-term investment capital on the banking system, State Bank of Viet Nam Governor NguyenVan Binh has suggested.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Year of the Horse (2014) was a grand time for many Vietnamese businessmen.

Vietnam has decided to loosen monetary policies in 2015 in an aim to hasten national economy recovery. However, the narrowing of the gap between the dong and US dollar interest rates will worsen the dollarization situation in Vietnam.

VietNamNet Bridge – Currently, foreign investors can hold no more than 30 percent of shares in one Vietnamese bank, but the proportion may rise to 100 percent by 2020.

The government of Vietnam is considering raising the ceiling on foreign ownership in weak banks which are undergoing restructuring, Deputy Governor of the State Bank Nguyen Phuoc Thanh said.

 The State Bank of Vietnam has announced that it will acquire all shares of VNCB, fully known as Vietnam Construction Bank, at no cost to become the sole owner of the ailing bank.

Commercial banks said that 2015's Tet (Lunar New Year) festival has been the most easy so far, in terms of liquidity, and even though it is around the corner, according to Dau Tu Chung Khoan

 The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) recently issued Circular No. 43/2014/TT-NHNN (December 25, 2014) on lending in foreign currency by credit institutions and foreign bank branches to residents.