The financial sector attracted enormous foreign investment in the first two months of 2018

By Linh Lan - Mar 08, 2018 | 08:27 AM GMT+7

TheLEADERIn only the first two months of this year, the banking, financial services and insurance sector (BFSI) of Vietnam received up to US$1.45 billion worth of investment.

The financial sector attracted enormous foreign investment in the first two months of 2018
The total amount of investment in the BFSI sector rose sharply thanks to recent IPOs and M&A deals.

According to the latest report conducted by the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), Vietnam's BFSI has attracted US$1.45 billion from foreign investors which is much higher compared with the figure of US$20.2 million in the same period last year due to recent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has inked the decision on approving the transfer of the entire stake in TechcomFinance held by the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) to Korea-based Lotte Card, a subsidiary company of Lotte Group.

The investor (Korean) revealed that the deal price was estimated at 87.5 billion won, equivalent to VND1.73 trillion (US$76.3 million), 2.89 times higher than TechcomFinance's charter capital.

In last month, Mirae Asset Global Investments which is under South Korea's Mirae Asset Finance Corporation signed a joint venture agreement with Tin Phat Asset Management Company, a subsidiary of Vietnam Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC).

Shinhan Card, a subsidiary of South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group, has decided to spend US$151 million to buy Vietnam's Prudential Finance. This deal was finalized in January this year.

It is expected that the stock market will become the most attractive investment channel for investors in 2018.

As planned, Techcombank, TPBank and Maritime Bank are expected to list on the stock market. These moves will boost the banking sector as well as the stock market.