HCMC – Citibank, or Citi, intends to apply for a local incorporation license to set up a foreign-owned unit in Vietnam, said Brett Krause, Citibank country officer for Vietnam.
The recent launch of products and services for individual customers in Vietnam is one of the American bank’s moves toward this target. The bank last Friday expanded its retail banking operations in the country by launching Citigold, a wealth management service for high-income customers in Hanoi and neighboring provinces after one year of deploying the service in HCMC.
Citigold aims at individual customers maintaining assets at least US$50,000 at the bank. Shirish Apte, chief executive officer of Citibank Asia Pacific, said in a statement, “Vietnam represents a promising market in what is an exceptionally important region for Citi, and we are committed to growing our franchise here.”
Krause also said in the statement, “This launch is just the start of Citi’s expansion plans in Vietnam. Over the next few months, Citi will progressively add more best-in-class products and services, increase the number of touch points for our customers, and with regulatory approval, cement its commitment to Vietnam by locally incorporating a banking subsidiary.”
Citibank now has two branches in Vietnam, with one in Hanoi and one in HCMC, offering a wide range of services in Vietnam including retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking, and global transaction services.
At this time, there are five 100% foreign-owned banks operational in Vietnam: HSBC, Standard Chartered, ANZ, Hong Leong, and Shinhan.
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