On the morning of October 14, 2026, the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of Eximbank (EIB, HoSE) approved scrapping the rule that capped total foreign ownership at 6% of charter capital.VietnamFinance The cap was set by the annual meeting of April 29, 2025, so it lasted less than 18 months. From now on, foreign ownership at the bank will follow Article 63 of the Law on Credit Institutions and related regulations, rather than a limit the bank wrote for itself.
The change opens room for foreign capital, but room is not the same as money coming in. To see what EIB holders actually gain, it helps to go back to the start: how the 6% cap came about, how the law changed, and how the bank's board turned over in 2026. As of writing, news reports have not given the approval rate for each proposal. That figure will appear in the meeting resolution the bank publishes after the session.
April 2025: A limit five times below the law
Before the 2025 annual meeting, Eximbank's board asked shareholders to cap total foreign ownership at 6% of charter capital, adding the rule to Clause 6, Article 20 of the charter.DNSE The stated reasons were to stabilize the shareholder structure and keep room to attract strategic investors.
The general ceiling for total foreign ownership at a Vietnamese commercial bank is 30% of charter capital, under Decree 01/2014/ND-CP as amended by Decree 69/2025/ND-CP, with some special exceptions.VietnamFinance That makes 6% five times lower than the legal ceiling. Explaining the figure, Eximbank's leadership said the bank was drawing interest from several well-capitalized foreign institutions. The rest of the 30% ceiling was understood as space reserved for potential strategic partners.
At the time, the cap barely blocked anyone. According to Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC) data as of April 9, 2025, foreign investors held only 3.65% of Eximbank, and remaining room stood at almost 492 million shares, or about 26.32%.DNSE The 6% figure was therefore mainly a decision about the future shareholder structure, not a barrier to money already flowing in.
September 2025: The law takes back the power to set low caps
On September 11, 2025, the government issued Decree 245/2025/ND-CP, amending Decree 155/2020/ND-CP on securities, effective from the signing date.VietnamFinance The decree abolished the provision allowing a shareholders' meeting or company charter to set a foreign ownership cap below the legal level. Public companies have 12 months to complete the notification of their maximum foreign ownership ratio.
The new rules include a transition clause: companies that already notified a ratio under the old mechanism may keep applying it. So Eximbank was not forced to drop the 6% immediately. Still, the legal tool that once let the bank set it on its own was gone.
July 2026: The board changes almost entirely
Alongside the legal change, Eximbank's board went through a turbulent year. Ms. Pham Thi Huyen Trang joined the board in April 2025 and was elected Chair in December 2025, then handed over that seat in July 2026.CafeF
At the extraordinary meeting on July 24, 2026, shareholders dismissed 4 board members and elected 5 independent members.Người Quan Sát Mr. Nguyen Le Quoc Anh, a former CEO of Techcombank from 2016 to 2020, was elected Chairman of Eximbank. Ms. Trang was then appointed CEO. Before the October 14 meeting, the board had 6 members: Mr. Quoc Anh and 5 independent members, all foreign nationals.Tin nhanh chứng khoán
The sources do not say this reshuffle is the direct reason the 6% cap was lifted. This article therefore places the two developments side by side in time, without linking them as cause and effect.
October 14, 2026: Cap removed, board enlarged
The meeting took place in Hanoi with 246 shareholders attending, representing 967.66 million shares, or 51.94% of voting shares.CafeF Two groups of items were on the agenda.
On foreign ownership, the board proposed abolishing Clause 1, Article 14 of the April 29, 2025 resolution and amending Article 20 of the charter, so the ratio would follow Article 63 of the Law on Credit Institutions.Tin nhanh chứng khoán In its proposal, the board said the move stemmed from both changes in the law and the need to mobilize financial, governance and technology resources for a strategic transformation. At the meeting, Mr. Quoc Anh said this was a requirement of the State Bank of Vietnam and would not affect shareholders' interests.Vietnambiz He also argued that as international investors value the bank more highly, its share value will rise. That is the view of the bank's leadership, not something yet verified.
On personnel, the meeting approved raising the board for the 2025-2030 term from 7 to 8 seats, 7 of them independent, and elected Ms. Trang to the board.Vietnambiz She thus returns to the board while remaining CEO.
What changes for people holding EIB
The most direct change is who may buy the shares. With the 6% limit gone from the charter, total foreign ownership at Eximbank returns to the general framework, usually 30% of charter capital, five times the old level.VietnamFinance In principle, foreign funds and institutions have more space to buy EIB, and a large stake sale to a foreign strategic partner is no longer blocked by the bank's own charter.
Even so, the expansion will not show up on the trading board right away. According to VietnamFinance, the bank must still complete disclosure procedures and update its ownership ratio before the trading system reflects the new level. A higher limit also does not guarantee more buyers. In April 2025 foreign holders owned just 3.65% against a 30% ceiling, so the cap was never the only thing deciding how much they bought.
A party weighing a large stake will also read the bank's asset quality. As of June 30, 2026, Eximbank's total assets stood at VND 266,068 billion, the NPL ratio rose from 2.86% to 3.08%, and the NPL coverage ratio fell from 43.8% to 31.7% versus the end of 2025.Tin nhanh chứng khoán Any buyer would put these figures on the table when negotiating a price.
Milestones to watch
The October 14 decision changes the rules for shareholders, but whether anyone steps in has to wait. Three documents will answer that question over time:
- The official meeting resolution, showing the approval rate for each proposal.
- The amended charter and the notice of the new maximum foreign ownership ratio, the point at which the trading system updates EIB's room.
- An announcement of a foreign institution buying a large stake, if one comes. Only then does the space between 6% and 30% start to be used.
Our read: the evidence supports only one conclusion so far, that the charter barrier has been removed. It does not support concluding that foreign capital will flow in. If no strategic investor appears after the room is updated, today's change mainly brings Eximbank's charter back in line with the new legal framework. If a foreign institution does step in, Eximbank would return to a model it once had with SMBC, the Japanese bank that held a stake in Eximbank from 2007 before withdrawing.VietnamFinance