Online Stockmarket Trading Update

Vietnam International Bank (VIB) and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) have entered into agreements to form a strategic partnership, which at end of completion, will see the Commonwealth Bank take a 20% stake in VIB (subject to regulatory approval).   This investment represents a significant step-up in an association which began in 2009, when VIB and Commonwealth Bank were engaged in a  “Technical Assistance Program‟. This involved a team of banking experts from Commonwealth Bank working with VIB to identify skills gaps and opportunities in critical business areas including retail banking, risk management, human resources, IT, treasury and finance.

As part of the strategic partnership, a longer-term “Capability Transfer Program‟ will be established to further enhance the operational and commercial capabilities of VIB. The two banks will also engage in an ongoing working partnership to investigate other business opportunities moving forward.  The Commonwealth Bank has extensive experience in Capability Transfer Programs (CTP) with a strong track record of commitments in China. Most notably its five year CTP with Bank of Hangzhou has seen that business grow to become China‟s number one City Commercial Bank (CCB) ahead of more than 120 CCB peers. Commonwealth Bank has also lifted the business performance of Qilu Bank in Jinan where it holds a 20% stake and where it provides substantial capability transfer.

Mr Han Ngoc Vu, Chairman of VIB said, “The Commonwealth Bank‟s track record in China is a great indication of how it works with its strategic partners in Asia to create long-term sustainable value to a business. “For VIB, a Strategic Partnership and CTP with such a strong and trusted financial institution as the Commonwealth Bank, will help us improve our competitiveness in what is a fast growing financial services industry in Vietnam.”

www.commbank.com.au

Tags: CBA, Commonwealth Bank, JV Agreement, New acquisition, Vietnam International Bank

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at 7:47 am and is filed under ASX Company News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.