Banks accelerate acquisition of securities companies

More and more banks are expanding into securities brokerage and capital markets, areas with higher profit margins than traditional lending...

More and more banks are expanding into securities brokerage and capital markets, which have higher profit margins than traditional lending, to strengthen and perfect the financial ecosystem.

Pouring billions into acquiring securities company

In the first half of 2025, the trend of banks expanding their operations into the securities sector continued to accelerate, with a series of mergers, acquisitions or strategic cooperation deals announced.

Many private banks such as Sacombank , SeABank, and MSB have planned to contribute capital or buy shares in securities companies, aiming to turn these units into subsidiaries.

Meanwhile, banks such as OCB and VIB choose a more flexible approach through strategic cooperation agreements to gradually expand their operations in the capital market sector.

At this year’s annual general meeting of shareholders, many banks have officially approved the policy of contributing capital or buying shares in securities companies. Typically, Sacombank received the “green light” from shareholders for its plan to invest a maximum of VND1,500 billion to own over 50% of the capital in a securities company. Currently, Sacombank is the largest shareholder in SBS Securities with a holding ratio of nearly 13.8%.

SeABank also plans to buy shares in ASEAN Securities Joint Stock Company, aiming to turn this company into a subsidiary. MSB has a strategy of choosing to buy an existing securities company, prioritizing units with "clean assets" and charter capital from 300 to 500 billion VND.

PGBank is not out of the race when it has just approved a plan to buy shares in securities companies, fund management companies or insurance companies, with the goal of turning these organizations into subsidiaries or affiliates in the bank's ecosystem.

MSB wants to own a securities company and a fund management company to participate more deeply in the capital market and benefit from the long-term development of the market.

This trend is not actually a new phenomenon this year, but was initiated a few years ago with high-profile deals. In 2022, VPBank acquired ASC Securities Company, changed its name to VPBank Securities (VPBankS) and invested heavily to increase its total charter capital to VND15,000 billion. ACB currently owns 100% of ACB Securities (ACBS), continuously increasing capital and restructuring operations to maximize advantages from the capital market.

Not only stopping at securities companies, some banks have also expanded their ownership to fund management companies. In early 2024, TPBank completed the acquisition of Viet Cat Fund Management Joint Stock Company (VFC) with a 99.9% ownership ratio. In addition, this bank also holds 9.01% of capital at Tien Phong Securities (TPS), with a total capital contribution value of more than VND 270 billion.

Many securities companies are currently “internal” members of the banking and financial ecosystem. LPBank Securities (LPBS) has LPBank as its major shareholder, Techcombank owns more than 94% of the capital at Techcom Securities (TCBS). Long-standing brands such as MB Securities (MBS), Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade Securities (VCBS), Agribank Securities (Agriseco) are also units that have close ownership or brand relationships with the parent bank.

The fact that banks simultaneously poured trillions of capital into securities companies is not only aimed at expanding financial investment services, but also demonstrates the ambition to dominate the value chain in the multi-layered financial ecosystem.

This is a strategic move for the bank to maximize revenue from high-margin services, while consolidating its position in the context of the Vietnamese financial market's accelerating transformation.

Expectations of expanding profit growth space

At the recent Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, the leaders of Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) stated that the Vietnamese stock market and investment banking activities are emerging as fertile lands, playing an increasingly important role in providing capital for the economy.

It is forecasted that the flow of foreign indirect investment into Vietnam through the stock market could reach about 25 billion USD per year. With such potential, owning a securities company or fund management company not only helps banks increase their presence in the capital market but also allows them to benefit from the long-term growth wave of this sector.

Ms. Cao Thi Thuy Nga, Chairwoman of PGBank's Board of Directors, shared that the strategy of expanding investment into the securities and fund management sectors is not simply to diversify the business portfolio.

More importantly, this is a way for banks to expand their revenue sources in the context of the current legal corridor not allowing credit institutions to invest directly in the stock market. Owning or associating with intermediary financial institutions will help banks overcome that barrier legally and effectively.

From the perspective of experts, credit rating company VIS Ratings believes that in the context of traditional lending activities facing many pressures from fierce competition to increasingly narrowing profit margins, finding alternative sources of income has become an inevitable trend.

In the first half of 2025, the wave of banks entering the securities sector increased strongly with many M&A deals and strategic cooperation being implemented.

Specifically, as of the end of March 2025, the average net interest margin (NIM) of the banking system had decreased by 0.35 percentage points compared to the same period last year, to only 2.9%. This decline poses a major challenge to the profitability of credit institutions, forcing them to expand their operations into higher-yielding areas such as securities and asset management.

Not just a temporary solution, this trend is proving to be clearly effective. Banks with affiliated securities companies are exploiting their existing customer networks to boost revenue from service fees, while developing a closed financial ecosystem.

Although investing in securities subsidiaries may affect capital adequacy ratios in the short term, banks still believe that this is the right strategy in the long term. A typical example is that in 2024, Techcombank contributed nearly 20% to the total consolidated profit of its parent bank, Techcombank.

VIS Ratings also emphasized that the strong development of banking-affiliated securities companies is changing the competitive landscape in the industry. Over the past three years, these companies have risen to a significant position in the group of 30 units with the largest asset scale in the industry, mainly thanks to strong capital increases and methodical development strategies.

In particular, the margin lending market share of this group of companies has increased rapidly, from 19% in 2022 to 30% by the end of 2024, reflecting a clear trend of dominating the market.

According to VIS Ratings, securities companies in the banking ecosystem are taking full advantage of cheap capital and a large customer network from parent banks to expand their market share in brokerage, investment consulting and bond distribution.

This is a competitive advantage that independent securities companies will find difficult to match in the short term. With that foundation, VIS Ratings predicts that banking affiliates will continue to be the driving force for profit growth in the finance and securities industry in the next 12 to 18 months.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/ngan-hang-tang-toc-mua-lai-cong-ty-chung-khoan-384363.html