The State Bank of Viet Nam has asked the Prime Minister to expedite Mekong Housing Bank (MHB)'s equitisation, which has been pending for years.
MHB would not be allowed to become a one-member liability limited company, and the bank would equitise by the year's end, according to the proposal.
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The bank has VND4.41 trillion (US$225.9 million) in charter capital and its valuation date was on September 30. The State will hold ruling ownership at the bank after equitisation and the State Bank will be the capital state representative at the institution.
A reliable source from MHB said that the bank was preparing to privatise at the end of this year.
If the bank does privatise, it would be the third bank to go to public in Viet Nam, following Vietcombank in 2007 and Vietinbank in 2008.
In May 2007, Mekong Housing Bank signed a equitisation consultancy deal with Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore. Deutsche Bank is responsible for evaluating MHB's total assets and building an equitisation and IPO plan.
Under an approved equitisation plan in March 2008, the HCM City-based bank would sell 15 per cent of its shares to strategic investors and 13.11 per cent to the public. The bank would be allowed to sell 1.79 per cent to employees and 2 per cent to its trade union. The state would retain 68.1 per cent of the bank. The plan has been delayed since the global financial crisis in 2008.
