Citibank expects approval to open bank in Vietnam

[July 08, 2015]  HANOI (Reuters) - Citibank NA, a unit of Citigroup Inc, said it would soon get the go-ahead from Vietnam's central bank to set up a bank in the country, which would make it the seventh wholly foreign-owned lender to operate there.

The U.S. lender said the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) governor would grant it a letter of acceptance, in principle, in Washington on Wednesday, witnessed by Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, who is on a landmark visit to the United States. By setting up a fully-owned bank in Vietnam, the company could help strengthen Vietnam's banking sector and support local and foreign clients, Citi Vietnam's Country Officer Natasha Ansell said in a statement. Citibank currently has two branches in the Southeast Asian nation. Fully foreign-owned banks in Vietnam currently include HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, South Korea's Shinhan Bank and Malaysia's Hong Leong Bank Bhd. In March, the SBV also allowed Malaysia's Public Bank Bhd to turn its Vietnam-based venture with local lender BIDV into a fully foreign-owned bank. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Martin Petty and Pravin Char)   [© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.