Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bologna, Italy, July 16, 2010
Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bologna, Italy, July 16, 2010
On July 16th, 2010 at the Hilton Opera Hanoi, the opening ceremony of PCB Investment JSC and the strategic partnership signing ceremony between PCB and CRIF was held.
With the aim of being the first world class credit bureau in Vietnam, PCB Investment Joint Stock Company (PCB) was established in December 2007 by 11 leading commercial banks in Vietnam with a charter capital of 50 billion VND.
With the support of the International Financial Corporation and after nearly 2 years of negotiation, PCB selected CRIF to be its official strategic partner.
The strategic partnership agreement between PCB and CRIF comprises 2 major parts: (i) agreement on CRIF to be PCB's major shareholder, holding 20% of the shares, and (ii) agreement on CRIF's handing over of its technical solution and expertise to PCB so that PCB can establish Vietnam's first world class private credit bureau.
CRIF was established in 1988 and now manages the first positive and negative credit bureau in Italy, as well as the positive and negative banking and non-banking credit bureaus in the Czech Republic, in the Slovak Republic, and Hungary. Moreover, it has been involved in the development of credit bureaus in Russia and Morocco, and in the modernization of the technological infrastructure of the credit bureau in Bangladesh.
Mr. Carlo Gherardi, the CEO of CRIF said "CRIF is very glad to participate in the implementation of the first Vietnamese credit bureau based on positive and negative information together with PCB. Our successful experience in delivering similar solutions in other countries make us confident that significant advantages will also be provided to Vietnamese lenders and borrowers. On the one hand, the availability of a full credit history will give Vietnamese citizens and businesses easier access to credit, as well as providing more favorable conditions to reliable applicants. On the other hand, Vietnamese banks and financial institutions will be more confident in their management of the financial exposure of consumers and can avoid excessive risk assumption".
With over 20 years of experience and impressive business success in the international credit information market, CRIF is the right partner to support PCB in implementing the first world class credit bureau in Vietnam. It will connect credit suppliers in Vietnam and provide them with various reliable credit information products, and will also contribute to the improvement of the retail market of financial institutions, supporting SMEs and individuals in accessing banking credit and in particular helping promote private business in Vietnam.
The strategic partnership signing ceremony between PCB Investment JSC and CRIF marks a turning point, with the first private company to participate in the credit information market regulated under the Vietnamese government Decree 10/2010/NĐ –CP of 12.2.2010.
