Shinhan to buy up stakes in Vietcombank joint venture

March 30, 2011 | 16:18

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Shinhan Financial Group, the biggest financial firm in the Republic of Korea (RoK), has decided to buy up the stakes of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) in the joint venture Shinhan Vina Bank.

Vietcombank - illustration photo

Founded in 1993, Shinhan Vina Bank was originally named First Vina Bank, of which Vietcombank held a 50 percent stake, the Korea First Bank possessed 40 per cent, and the Daewoo Securities Company, 10 per cent.

In 2001, the Shinhan Financial Group bought up the stakes of the two RoK partners and renamed the bank Shinhan Vina Bank, which boasted total assets of nearly 553 billion KRW (about $500 million).

At the same time, the group established a 100 per cent foreign-invested bank in Vietnam with total assets of almost 500 billion KRW.

The Shinhan Financial Group is planning to merge the two subsidiary banks after the business deal with Vietcombank.

VIR/VNA

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