Moody’s has also placed on review for upgrade the baseline credit assessments (BCAs) and long-term counterparty risk assessments (CRAs) of these seven banks and of two more banks.

The institutions affected are An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), JSC Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Military Bank), as well as Sai Gon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB), Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Sacombank), Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), Vietnam International Bank (VIB) and Vietnam Technological and Comm’l JSB (TCB).

The rating action reflects Moody’s expectation that the more benign operating and economic environment for banks in Vietnam (B1 stable) will lead to improvements in the banks’ credit profiles, and notably, their asset quality and profitability metrics, while also contributing to relative stability in their funding and liquidity.

The improvement in the operating and economic environment for banks has been reflected in Moody’s change of Vietnam’s macro profile to "Weak" from "Weak-." A macro profile captures the risks related to the banks’ operating and economic environment.

Despite the improvement, Moody’s considers that the Vietnamese banking system remains undercapitalised against the backdrop of rapid credit growth and a high share of legacy problem assets, which are not always adequately disclosed on the banks’ balance sheets. Moody’s expects that these challenges will continue to persist in the medium-term, despite some improvements.

Moody’s expects to conclude the review of the Vietnamese banks within the next 90 days.

The BCAs and long-term ratings of Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam, Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank and Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank are not affected by this action.