A former senior official of a Vietnamese bank has been internationally wanted by Vietnam’s police after he stole all the money in a customer’s accounts and fled to a foreign country. Police identified the man as Le Nguyen Hung, 47, former vice director at the Ho Chi Minh City-based branch of the Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint-stock Bank, otherwise known as Vietnam Eximbank. Hung has been prosecuted and internationally wanted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security for fraud aimed at appropriating other people’s property, police said on Saturday. The ministry said the man had left Vietnam after expropriating VND245 billion ($10.79 million) worth of savings from Chu Thi Binh, a VIP-type customer at the branch. Between 2014 and 2016, capitalizing on the granted authority of dealing with savings, Hung produced fake documents and forged Binh’s signature in order to withdraw money from her multiple bank accounts at different time points. At the end of 2017, suspecting fraudulence, the customer found that VND245 billion had vanished from her accounts. She discussed the incident with Eximbank’s general director and reported it to the investigative agency of the Ministry of Public Security. The bank said that based on the conclusion of the police, it and Binh will cooperate to bring the case to court as soon as possible in conformity with the law; and the lender will immediately reimburse the lost amount subsequent to the court’s ruling. However, Binh does not agree to resort to court for settlement, demanding that Eximbank promptly pay… [Read full story]
The face of the banking system in Vietnam has changed a lot since April 2007 owing to the Vietnam’s admission to WTO. More and more foreign financial institutions wish to become the strategic shareholders of domestic banks. It’s clear that foreign bankers want to cooperate with domestic banks not only to make profit, but also to take full advantage of the large networks the domestic banks have developed. They also compete with domestic banks through 100 percent foreign invested bank branches. With the watertight policy and bigger advantages, Vietnamese experts warned that foreign bankers would easily “crush” the domestic banks.…... [read more]
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on July 4 reached an agreement with Germany's Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Capacity Building International (InWEnt), Germany, on a training programme for Vietnamese bankers in the 2008-09 period. The programme focuses on macro-economic management, monetary policies, financial market, banking inspection, leadership skills and international integration in the banking and finance fields. Professors from US universities and senior experts of central banks of Germany and Australia are invited to give lectures to SBV branches' heads and lecturers of Vietnam's Banking Institute and National University of Economics. The SBV said the training is part of a…... [read more]
Vietnamese are spending less and saving more due to their worries about the economy. Up to 73% of those interviewed said they would use their spare cash for savings, topping the world, a survey by Nielsen said. Vietnamese tops world for savings According to Nielsen’s the global survey on Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) released on July 27, 86% of Vietnamese interviewed said that they had spent less over the past year to save more, causing the country’s CCI to drop to 104 points in the second quarter of 2015, down 8 points against the first quarter of the year. The…... [read more]
A court in Ho Chi Minh City will be hearing a case involving 46 banking execs and staff on January 8 for alleged violations of economic regulations that resulted in VND9 trillion ($400 million) going missing from the banking sector. Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court said on Monday that Tram Be, former deputy chairman of Sacombank, and Pham Cong Danh, a former chairman of Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB), will be among 46 defendants to stand trial. The scheduled date of the trial highlights how Vietnam is looking to swiftly punish high-profile individuals as part of its ongoing anti-graft move. At a yet-to-be…... [read more]
An ex-chairman of a Vietnamese joint stock commercial bank and a former executive of local lender Sacombank, along with 44 other defendants, appeared in court on Monday for their roles in causing losses of more than US$264 million for the commerical bank. The trial in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to last for a month, with more than 70 lawyers representing 46 defendants, and over 200 individuals summoned to court. The hearing is the second phase of a high-profile court case centered around Pham Cong Danh, the former chairman of the erstwhile Vietnam Construction Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VNCB),…... [read more]
