After completing the transaction, the major foreign shareholder at An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABBANK) now has Maybank - the largest bank in Malaysia with an ownership ratio of 16.4%.
The divestment roadmap of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) at ABBANK was planned in advance and implemented by IFC in May 2024. Previously, major foreign shareholders at ABBANK included: Maybank - the largest bank in Malaysia and the International Finance Corporation - IFC (a member of the World Bank Group).
During their time as strategic shareholders of ABBANK, both Maybank and IFC have provided valuable support to ABBANK in orienting retail banking, sustainable development and governance according to international standards.
As a strategic shareholder, in nearly 14 years of cooperation, IFC has effectively supported ABBANK in terms of capital, medium and long-term lending products and trade finance as well as consulting and sharing experiences with ABBANK, supporting the improvement of governance capacity, sustainable development and promoting financing for SMEs - an important driver of economic growth and job creation for the Vietnamese economy.
In particular, IFC has provided consulting support and shared practical experience throughout the process of ABBANK implementing projects to ensure compliance with risk management according to Basel III standards.
By divesting from ABBANK, IFC is fulfilling its institutional mandate to reinvest capital to support more Vietnamese businesses, thereby maximizing development impacts.
As a development institution focused on supporting the private sector, IFC expands its engagement in Vietnam's financial markets, working with banking and non-bank financial intermediaries to promote financial inclusion and climate finance.
On the side of strategic shareholder Maybank, with more than 16 years of companionship, this bank and ABBANK also regularly organize seminars to share experiences in implementing retail banking, Digital Banking and developing small and medium enterprise (SME) customers.
These are areas where Maybank has experience and strengths in the market, in line with ABBANK's retail banking development strategy. ABBANK and Maybank continue to have close cooperation on capital sources and trade finance transactions.
Sharing about the plan to attract more capital from foreign investors, ABBANK representative said: "In the future, attracting more capital from foreign investors can also be an option that ABBANK will consider when there is a good opportunity, a strategic partner suitable for ABBANK's sustainable development goals".
In 2024, ABBANK will focus resources on implementing the key project "Renewing Banking Strategy" with the advice and support of McKinsey - a global strategic management consulting firm.
Accordingly, ABBANK is accelerating the implementation of a series of strategic projects/initiatives to serve business goals and system transformation, including key projects such as: Deploying the new Omni Channel digital platform; Customer relationship management system - CRM; Deploying Datalake data management solution; Project to build a sales and service model to enhance customer experience, along with many new business promotion initiatives... towards realizing the 2028 target aspiration.
