The Industrial Bank of Korea has begun selecting a consulting firm to establish a local subsidiary in Vietnam in the first half of next year. This comes eight years after applying for approval from the Vietnamese financial authorities in 2017.
According to the financial sector on the 22nd, the Industrial Bank of Korea plans to select a professional consulting firm and accelerate the establishment of its local subsidiary in Vietnam. The consulting firm is expected to support all aspects of the establishment of the local subsidiary, including legal reviews for approvals and business commencement, preparation of necessary documents, and local system establishment. Vietnam aims for the establishment of the local subsidiary in the first half of next year.
Previously, the Industrial Bank of Korea received a receipt for the 'Vietnam subsidiary establishment application documents' from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in May. The receipt issued by the SBV is an official document that externally recognizes that 'the submission of documents required for approval review has been completed' for a specific application case.
It has been eight years since the Industrial Bank of Korea applied to the SBV for approval to establish a local subsidiary in Vietnam in July 2017. The SBV has not issued any new approvals since September 2017 for bank corporations and since January 2021 for foreign bank branches.
If the Industrial Bank of Korea establishes a banking corporation in Vietnam, it will become the third Korean bank to establish a local corporation, following Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank. Currently, the Industrial Bank of Korea operates two branches in Vietnam, located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
In Vietnam, 41 domestic financial companies operate 55 locations in the form of local subsidiaries, branches, and offices. This is the second largest scale after the United States, which has 62 locations.