While some lessons have been learned from previous financial calamities, central banks are again in the spotlight as the global market attempts to fend off a repeat crisis. Steve Brice, chief investment strategist at Standard Chartered Bank, shares his view on global growth prospects for the capital market as a useful channel for investors to take as reference.

Thirteen commercial banks and securities firms will be allowed to join the debt market or Government bonds (G-bonds) market in Viet Nam this year.

The State Bank of Viet Nam has asked domestic credit institutions and foreign banks’ branches to expand credit for business, production and consumption as an effort to prevent usury.

Shares extended gains on the two national stock exchanges on Friday morning, driven by positive performance of banks.

The Government supports the policy of allowing four State-owned banks to raise charter capital, said Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) Le Minh Hung.

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,166 VND/USD on January 10, down 7 VND from the previous day.

The recent rising appetite for M&A in Vietnamese banks from South Korean investors may be a positive sign reflecting a brighter economic outlook and a hunger for growth.

The commercial banks’ preferential interest rates will be remain unchanged at 5 per cent for social housing this year, according to a decision of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).

Shares bounced back on Tuesday morning, propped up by the banking sector.

The pressure to increase capital and modernise governance are becoming a focus for many financial institutions. In this context, several organisations have actively implemented important requirements under Circular No.13/2018/TT-NHNN covering a broad range of critical aspects of governance, risk management, internal control, internal capital adequacy assessment procedure (ICAAP), and internal audit. As a leading international consulting & audit firm in Vietnam, KPMG closely follows this trend in the Vietnamese banking system. According to KPMG, TPBank has put serious effort and resources into complying with Circular 13’s ICAAP requirement and to have met ICAAP’s stringent international standards. Pham Do Nhat Vinh, director of Financial Risk Consulting Services at KPMG Vietnam, gives some exposure to TPBank’s case and local credit institutions’ movements in this regard.

It is a common narrative in some circles: established banks are dinosaurs about to be disrupted. This story seems intuitive because it echoes the disruption we have seen in other industries, from the way that new players moved shopping online in the 1990s, to the way the music and video industries were disrupted by streaming.

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,150 VND/USD on January 2, down 5 VND from the previous day.

The doors for coal-fired power projects in Vietnam are narrowing shut as international institutions and banks tighten financing and even exit coal-fired ventures, piling pressure on the country to create reasonable power sources for Vietnam’s future energy mix.

Global ratings agency Moody’s last week dealt a fresh blow to Vietnam’s financial sector by downgrading the outlook of 18 banks to reflect disquiet among investors, following the agency’s confirmation a few days earlier of Vietnam’s Ba3 sovereign rating.

Viet Nam’s Government bond (G-bond) market would become a safe, effective and highly lucrative investment mechanism for commercial banks, insurance networks, investment funds and foreign investors.