Several major commercial banks were found to have used trillions of dong raised from corporate bond issues for purposes other than those publicly stated, according to a report released by the Government Inspectorate on October 17.

Vietnamese banks have significantly increased their bond issuance in 2025, with a reported total issuance of VND81 trillion (US$3.1 billion) in the first five months of the year.

Vietnam saw 174 private placements of corporate bond issues totaling VND161.5 trillion in the first seven months of the year, a 2.6-fold increase over the same period last year, showed data from the Ministry of Finance.

Banks have been promoting the mobilisation of medium- and long-term capital through bond issuance to meet the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s requirements on capital adequacy ratio (CAR).

HSBC has issued VND600 billion (US$25.7 million) worth of bonds, becoming the first foreign bank to do so in Vietnam.