Melbourne-headquartered ANZ will sell its retail banking business in Vietnam to South Korea’s Shinhan Bank’s Vietnam bank.

ANZ is expecting to finalise the sale of its retail banking business in Vietnam to Shinhan Bank by the end of the year including the eight Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City branches and all their staff in a deal of an unknown value.

The division had 125,000 customers across Vietnam, $AUD320 million in lending assets, and $AUD800 million in deposits.

ANZ group executive, international, Farhan Faruqui, said the sale was part of the banks agenda to simplify the bank.

“It allows us to focus resources on our largest business in Asia – institutional banking – where we are a top four corporate bank supporting regional trade and capital flows,” he said.

“The sale of our retail business is in line with our strategy to simplify the bank and improve capital efficiency.

“We have a long history in Vietnam and we will be maintaining our presence through our Institutional Bank in Vietnam which will continue to support our corporate clients.”

The bank also has retail units in the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos.