The Hanoi-based lender, known as Military Bank, is working with the State Securities Commission and Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on listing procedures, Cao Thi Thuy Nga, vice general director, said in a telephone interview Thursday.

“If everything goes smoothly, we expect to list shares as soon as the second quarter of 2010,” Nga said. The company won shareholder approval for the listing plan in June, she added.

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index has rallied 67 percent this year after a 66 percent drop in 2008.

That has prompted banks including Joint-Stock Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, Bank for Industry & Trade and Vietnam Export-Import Commercial Joint-Stock Bank to speed up listing plans.

Pretax profit of Military Bank reached VND700 billion (US$39.3 million) in the January-July period, equivalent to 70 percent of its full-year target, according to Nga. Total deposits were VND39 trillion in the period, she said without giving comparable figures.