The information was announced by the State Bank in a recent report sent to the National Assembly.

Currently, the entire banking system has 5 banks under special control, including: DongA Bank (DongABank), Construction Bank (CBBank), Ocean Bank (OceanBank), Global Petroleum (GPBank) and Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB).

In a report sent to the National Assembly Economic Committee at the end of April 2023, the State Bank said it had submitted and received approval from competent authorities for the compulsory transfer policy for four weak banks: CBBank, OceanBank, GPBank and DongABank.

But in the latest report sent to the National Assembly, the State Bank said the Government decided to compulsorily transfer 3 banks: CBBank, OceanBank, and GPBank.

The State Bank is directing relevant parties to carry out procedures to submit to the Government for approval of the compulsory transfer plan for these three banks.

Meanwhile, the State Bank continues to exercise special control over DongABank and SCB; and strengthens supervision according to regulations for the National Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

DongABank was established and officially put into operation in 1992, with an initial charter capital of 20 billion VND. In August 2015, the State Bank decided to put this bank under special control.

SCB was originally a merger of three banks: SCB, De Nhat and Viet Nam Tin Nghia. This bank used to have the largest total assets in the private banking group and was among the top 5 credit institutions with the largest assets in the market.

From mid-October 2022, the State Bank of Vietnam will put SCB under special control. This is to stabilize operations and limit negative impacts on banks and the system of credit institutions.

On the morning of May 20, reporting to the National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that the valuation of 3 banks subject to compulsory purchase (including CBBank, OceanBank, GPBank) has been completed and the plan for compulsory transfer is expected to be submitted to competent authorities for approval in May 2024, completing the compulsory transfer in 2024.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, the search and negotiation for a commercial bank eligible to receive a compulsory transfer is long and difficult because it depends largely on the voluntary participation of commercial banks and requires time to convince shareholders, especially major shareholders and foreign strategic shareholders, to agree to participate in the compulsory transfer.

Besides, the policy mechanism and financial resources to handle weak credit institutions in general and to develop a plan for compulsory transfer of banks that compulsorily acquired DongABank in particular still have many shortcomings, obstacles and lengthy procedures.

In addition, coordination and consultation among relevant ministries and sectors is still prolonged because the handling of weak banks is complicated and unprecedented; the capacity of some officials and civil servants doing inspection and supervision work is still limited.

Waiting for mandatory transfer, how is DongA Bank under special control for 10 years? After many years of decline, DongA Bank's outstanding loans in 2022 reached 102% of the annual plan. Capital mobilization from customers reached 98% of the annual plan, of which savings deposits alone increased by 11% compared to the beginning of 2022.