Banks massively increase charter capital to welcome Basel III standards

Since the beginning of 2025, the Vietnamese banking system has witnessed a strong wave of charter capital increases, ranging from state-owned giants to mid-sized private banks. The goal is not only to expand financial scale but also to meet stricter capital safety standards, especially in the context that the State Bank is promoting the application of Basel III standards more deeply and systematically in the system.

In 2025, more than 20 banks have planned to increase their charter capital with a total increase of nearly 167,000 billion VND. Illustrative photo

To date, more than 20 banks have announced plans to increase capital in 2025, with an estimated total added value of nearly VND167,000 billion. Capital increase options are quite diverse, from issuing shares to pay dividends, offering to existing shareholders, issuing private shares to issuing long-term bonds to increase Tier 2 capital.

Among the group of state-owned commercial banks, Vietcombank is leading with its plan to issue shares to existing shareholders, which if successful will increase its charter capital to more than VND83,500 billion, the highest in the industry. BIDV has also completed a private issuance of nearly 124 million shares, increasing its charter capital to more than VND70,200 billion. VietinBank is not out of the trend, as it is also preparing a plan to increase capital through stock dividends.

In the private banking group, the race to increase capital is no less exciting. HDBank, VIB, MSB, SHB , LPBank, Bac A Bank and PGBank have all been approved by the State Bank or are completing procedures to implement significant capital increases this year. The increase ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands of billion VND, depending on the scale of each credit institution. Notably, many banks choose to issue bonus shares or dividend shares, both to increase capital and retain existing shareholders.

Up to now, National Citizen Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NCB) is the latest bank to announce that it has been approved by the State Bank to increase its charter capital by an additional VND7,500 billion in the form of issuing individual shares. Previously, a series of banks were also approved by the State Bank to increase their capital: ACB increased by a maximum of nearly VND6,700 billion; VIB increased by nearly VND4,300 billion;

Explaining the wave of simultaneous capital increases at commercial banks, experts in the financial sector said that this is an inevitable step for banks to prepare for changes in capital safety regulations, which are expected to be tightened in the coming years. According to the roadmap of the State Bank, the minimum capital safety ratio (CAR) will be gradually increased to 10.5% from 2033, requiring banks to have a stronger capital foundation to meet the requirements. In addition, increasing charter capital will also help banks improve their competitiveness, expand credit scale, increase investment in technology and potential areas such as digital banking and green finance. In the context of the economy showing positive signs of recovery after a volatile 2024, strengthening equity capital is considered a prerequisite for banks to maintain sustainable growth and manage risks more effectively.

It is forecasted that in the second half of 2025, the race to increase capital at commercial banks will continue to heat up, as many other banks are preparing to submit plans and await approval from the management agency. In the context of increasingly fierce competition, only banks with strong capital foundations and clear growth strategies can make a breakthrough in the coming period.

The race to increase charter capital of banks in 2025 reflects the inevitable trend of the Vietnamese banking system in consolidating its financial foundation, meeting international standards and preparing for a new growth phase.

Duy Minh

Source: https://congthuong.vn/ngan-hang-o-at-tang-von-dieu-le-de-don-chuan-basel-iii-387601.html