services sector, being the corporate masterminds behind the emergence of some of Vietnam's early banking houses. Early in the twentieth century, the Franco-Chinese bank was jointly established by French and Hoa businessmen and investors in Saigon-Cholon. After the inauguration of the bank, initial capital swelled from 10 million to 50 million francs within the span of half a decade. After reaping the teachings of sound Western banking practices under French tutelage, the Chinese community would capitalize on their learned knowledge and experience to soon go on to establish their own banks, providing seed capital to Hoa rice merchants in addition to bankrolling their own pawnshops. During the early years of the Republic of Vietnam, the Chinese controlled three of the ten private banks while the rest were British and French-owned. Furthermore, the Hoa also controlled foreign branches of banks based in Mainland China such as the Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and Bank of East Asia, all of which had a direct presence in pioneering Vietnam's banking sector. In South Vietnam, 28 of the 32 banks were controlled by the Hoa and the amount of capital under Chinese hands accounted for 49 percent of the total capital invested in eleven local private banks in 1974. Additionally, the Chinese also ran the bank's Chinese Affairs Office to serve the needs of the Hoa business community. One high-profile success story within the pioneering of Vietnam's banking industry is owed to the Hoa banker and businessman, Đặng Văn Thành. Thành who established Sacombank in 1991, has since then emerged as one of Vietnam's leading banks eventually becoming the first bank to be listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in December 2006. Today, Sacombank deals with many banking industry constituents such as operating as a wealth management house, investment bank, corporate financial advisory, brokerage, and private equity firm. On August 10, 2007, Thành fulfilled his pledge to the Hoa community by inaugurating a Sacombank branch for them called Hoa-Viet Branch. The specialized bank branch located in the Chinatown district of Ho Chi Minh City serves a financial services institution that specifically deals with Hoa clients and addresses the local banking needs of the Hoa community in Mandarin. Thành, a second-generation Hoa of Hainanese ancestry on his father's side, started off his humble business career by operating several small factories making sugar cane, cooking wine, and cattle feed. Thành then ventured out