Central bank gets go-ahead to sell four ailing lenders

By Anh Minh May 3, 2023 | 08:53 pm PT

An employee counts Vietnamese banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

The State Bank of Vietnam has got the green light from the government to sell off four ailing banks that are under “special control.”

CBBank, OceanBank, GPBank, and DongA Bank ran into financial difficulties in the past and accumulated large debts and were placed under the control of the central bank.

The SBV bought CBBank, OceanBank and GPBank for zero dong in 2015.

It said last year it was looking for potential investors and partners to acquire them.

It appointed executives from state-owned lenders Vietcombank and VietinBank to manage them with the mandate to gradually lessen their debts and losses.

The four lenders have a non-performing loans ratio of under 3%, but that could go up to 5% if doubtful debts are taken into account.

Saigon Commercial Bank, which was placed under special control in October last year, "has been operating within control and has been gradually stabilizing," the SBV said.