Departure of the tycoon is part of the government's efforts to reshape the country's banking system. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has taken a banking tycoon and his son out of Sacombank’s management board, the central bank said in a statement on Friday. The Ho Chi Minh City-based lender, fully known as the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank, is the country’s fifth largest partly private bank in terms of total assets estimated at VND290.86 trillion ($12.77 billion) after merging with Phuong Nam (Southern) Bank in 2015. Banking tycoon Tram Be and his son Tram Khai Hoa will resign as members of Sacombank's management board. Their departure is part of a government plan to reform the banking system, the central bank said. Tram Be confirmed his resignation in an interview with VnExpress Friday afternoon while en route back to his hometown in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, 250 km (155 miles) south of Ho Chi Minh City. “I’m still fine," Tram … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s central bank terminates tycoon’ managing role in Sacombank
Sacombank tra vinh
Sacombank brings early Tet to poor
Sacombank brings early Tet to poor My Tran By My Tran in HCMC Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (Sacombank) on Sunday teamed up with HCMC’s Relief Association for Disabled Children to spend VND4.5 billion on a fabulous day for more than 6,000 homeless people from the elderly and orphaned to disabled children reared and supported in centers, open houses in HCMC and neighboring provinces. The program started in 2004 annually on the occasion of Tet and to date, Sacombank has spent VND22.5 billion helping needy people celebrate the holiday season. On the day, over 6,000 poor people were given gifts worth VND300,000 each and lucky money of VND200,000 in cash. Before that, from January 14 to 20, Sacombank donated 21 tons of rice, 100 kilograms of sugar, 50 boxes of milk and nearly VND320 million for poor people supporting centers and open houses in HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Tien Giang and Long An. … [Read more...] about Sacombank brings early Tet to poor
Rhino horn theft just tip of iceberg
Last month's theft of a rhino horn from a banker's house opens a can of worms as even licensed trophy hunters cannot gift or sell them, and almost 500 legally imported horns are untraceable in Vietnam A high-profile theft of a rhino horn last month brought to light the fact that a Ho Chi Minh City hunter and a bank tycoon had breached the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Ngo Thanh Nhan gifted Tram Be, deputy chairman of Sacombank, a rhino horn worth an estimated VND4 billion (US$191,600) five years ago. Late last month it was reported that the four-kilogram horn was stolen from Be's house in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh. The theft prompted a US conservation group to ask Vietnamese police to investigate whether the horn was legally procured since trade in such wildlife products is restricted in Vietnam. Be said he had papers proving the legality of the horn, but under CITES rules Nhan, who shot the animal in South … [Read more...] about Rhino horn theft just tip of iceberg
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 26/2
Investment deal agreed for petrochemical complex The JGCS Consortium and Vietnam's Construction Corporation No1 have signed an agreement to build civil works at the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project in central Thanh Hoa province. The US$91-million sub-contract is for the construction of the project's civil works, zone-1 and zone-2. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Hanoi on February 22, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai required the project's main contractor, JGCS, and domestic sub-contractors, including Construction Corporation No1, to closely coordinate with the project's investor, consultant and supervisor to assure the project progresses on schedule and at a high quality, while maintaining a safe environment for workers and environmental protection standards. The success of the project will help continuously build ties between domestic and foreign contractors in future projects, Hai added. He also highly praised the JGCS's preparation for the project's construction … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 26/2
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 19/2
Central bank pledges $2b in soft loans The HCM City branch of the State Bank of Viet Nam will offer enterprises low-interest loans from a fund totalling VND40 trillion (US$1.89 billion) approved by the central bank. Deputy Governor Nguyen Phuoc Thanh told a recent meeting between the municipal People's Committee with the local banking sector that the fund would be disbursed under a programme that links local banks and enterprises. All the city-based banks would be encouraged to participate in the scheme. "The programme will continue to focus on preferential loans to enterprises involved in prioritised sectors, with priority given to those that want to upgrade production technology and equipment or apply high technology, or are involved in support industries," Thanh said. "This year, the programme will create conditions for more customers to get access to preferential loans with the interest rate of less than 9 per cent per year. "They may include small traders, students, households … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 19/2