Vietnam has added new restrictions on foreign investors in the country's state-owned banks and imposed new limits on investors in banks being privatised in a move an analyst said would help protect state assets. Foreign investors seeking to buy 15 percent or more of a Vietnamese state-owned bank must have total assets of at least $20 billion in the year before they buy a stake, the central bank said in a circular released late on Tuesday. "The government wants to protect state assets because state-run banks have huge assets, many of which are not profitable now," said a Vietnamese analyst who declined to be identified by name. The fear is that the state may lose control over assets that while unprofitable, it has an interest in keeping, said the analyst, who is based in Hanoi and tracks Vietnam's banking sector.
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