 |
| Customers have withdrawn hundreds of millions of dollars from ACB bank since Monday |
Related
Stories
Depositors
in Vietnam have withdrawn hundreds of millions of dollars from one of the
country's largest banks after the arrest of one of its founders.
Nguyen Duc
Kien, one of Vietnam's richest businessmen, was arrested in Hanoi on Monday on
suspicion of "economic violations".
Shares in
Asia Commercial Bank slid as a result, causing depositors to panic.
The Central
Bank has pumped millions into the bank to reassure depositors.
Large
crowds of customers have gathered outside branches of ACB in Ho Chi Minh City
and Hanoi.
The
government has said that Mr Kien, who owns just under a 5% stake in ACB, is not
involved in the day-to-day running of the bank.
Mr Kien,
whose family is the fifth richest in Vietnam, co-founded ACB in the 1990s. He
is seen as a politically well-connected tycoon.
 |
Nguyen Duc Kien
Born in 1964 on the outskirts of Hanoi
In 1981, studied at military school in
Hungary, a fellow communist state of
Vietnam at the time
After working for a state-run textiles firm,
co-founded ACB bank with other partners
in 1994
Passion for football led him to take over
Vietnam's professional football league
One of communist Vietnam's first
generation of tycoons
|
CEO
concerns
The
allegations against him concern other investment companies that he owns, but
there is also concern about the whereabouts of ACB's chief executive officer Ly
Xuan Hai.
Some
reports say it is widely believed that Ly Xuan Hai is also under arrest or may
have resigned.
Mr Ly's
deputy, Do Minh Toan, has been quoted as telling state media that depositors
withdrew about 5 trillion dong ($240m) from ACB on Wednesday.
The bank
run has also put pressure on the dong and has led to an increase in the price
of gold - traditionally seen as a safe-haven investment at times of economic
instability.
Since
Wednesday the Central Bank has injected 17 trillion dong into Vietnam's
commercial banking sector in an effort to mollify depositors and the market.
The BBC's
Charles Scanlon says Mr Kien's sudden arrest has prompted speculation about a
power struggle in communist-run Vietnam, and a suspected plot to curb the power
of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, to whom Mr Kien has close ties.
ACB faced a
run on its deposits in 2003 after rumours, which were later proved false,
spread about the arrest of one of its executives at the time.
Mr Kien is
also a shareholder in other commercial banks, including Kien Long Commercial
Joint Stock Bank and the Vietnam Export-Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank
He has also
invested heavily in Vietnam's professional football league.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.