The State Bank of Vietnam has granted operation licences to America’s First Commercial Bank and the Taipei-based Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank to open two branches in Vietnam.
First Commercial Bank, a division of Synovus Bank, is chartered in the state of Georgia, the US.
Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank is currently one of the largest privately held banks in Taiwan.
Mr. Nguyen Van Giau, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, presented the licenses to representatives of the two foreign banks in Hanoi on Oct. 6.
The two branches will have US$15 million in chartered capital each and will perform capital mobilization, credit activities and payment services, as well as provide other banking services.
First Commercial Bank will set up a branch in Hanoi.
Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank will upgrade its operational representative office in Bien Hoa City, the capital of the southern province of Dong Nai, into a branch, according to a bank spokesperson.
The Bien Hoa office was established in March 2006. It will become the bank’s second overseas branch after its Hong Kong branch opened in June 2008, the Taiwanese lender said.
The Dong Nai branch is expected to serve Taiwanese investors in Ho Chi Minh City and its neighboring Binh Duong Province, according to the spokesperson.
