Petrovietnam Finance Corp. to be converted to a bank

Petrovietnam has approved the plan to change the operational model of Petrovietnam Finance Corp and convert it into a bank.

The financial arm will thus issue shares to raise its registered capital by 50 percent to 9 trillion dong or $431.9 million.

Petrovietnam plans to reduce its ownership in the future bank to 52 percent from 78 percent by not buying the shares to be issued.

It gave no reason for Petrovietnam's decision to turn PVFC into a bank. PVFC is currently structured as a non-banking financial institution.

Petrovietnam plans to divest from Ocean Bank, in which it holds a 20 percent stake, to comply with the government's requirement that state groups hold stakes in no more than one commercial bank.