Eximbank "Going North" to expand the market

At the meeting, a shareholder asked whether the relocation of the headquarters would affect the rights of employees of the Southern bank. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, Acting General Director of Eximbank, affirmed: “This is entirely for the best interests of the bank’s development. Moving the headquarters to Hanoi doubles the number of employees and does not affect the rights of employees.”

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Eximbank extraordinary shareholders meeting on the morning of November 28.

According to Eximbank Chairman Nguyen Canh Anh, the authorities respect the bank’s right to decide whether to move its headquarters to Hanoi. In the face of unverified information spreading on social media, Mr. Canh Anh advised shareholders to only trust official, verified sources.

Moving headquarters is an important event marking a turning point in the bank's development after 35 years of operation, demonstrating determination and strong action in the restructuring and transformation journey towards Eximbank's strategic goals from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, Acting General Director of Eximbank, said that Eximbank is shaping a suitable strategy for the coming time. “Eximbank has 2.4 million customers and this number has not increased in 10 years, while other banks have grown and spread across the country.

Eximbank is the Export-Import Bank of Vietnam. We want to bring the Eximbank brand to cover the whole country, increase brand recognition in the North, develop business, logistics, infrastructure, not just finance.

Determining that the market is in a saturated phase, Eximbank needs to maintain and expand to keep up with other banks for at least 3 more years.

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Mr. Hai said that the Board of Directors has consulted with the authorities and fully complied with the provisions of the law in submitting the plan to move the headquarters.

Commenting on this, Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc - Director of ANVI Law Firm said that moving headquarters does not affect the safety of bank operations, does not affect the quality of bank assets, and does not affect the banking system and the market in general.

“Moving headquarters is the right of banks. The State Bank will only give its opinion when the bank is weak and needs to be controlled. At that time, the management agency will make recommendations on issues that need attention. In the case that the bank is operating normally, the State Bank has no reason to disagree,” emphasized lawyer Duc.

According to financial and banking expert, Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, the relocation will positively affect Eximbank's long-term strategy. Mr. Hieu said: "Eximbank needs strong changes from the Board of Directors as well as the Executive Board. The relocation could be one of the impacts that will put Eximbank on the trajectory of stable and long-term development in the coming period."

Dismissal of members of the Board of Directors and the Board of Supervisors

Today, Eximbank's extraordinary shareholders' meeting also approved the dismissal of two members of the Board of Directors, Nguyen Ho Nam and Luong Thi Cam Tu, and approved the dismissal of Mr. Ngo Tony from the Board of Supervisors.

Previously, a group of shareholders owning more than 5% of charter capital submitted a petition to dismiss the above members.

This is a matter of great concern at this congress. Analyzing the proposed dismissal of members of the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board of Eximbank, economic expert, Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan said that banks are all subject to the Law on Credit Institutions, the Law on Enterprises, and the Law on Securities if they are joint stock commercial banks.

In addition, all bank activities must comply with the bank's Charter approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders. Therefore, the dismissal/election of additional members of the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board is completely normal.

“A bank is like a business, it also has a Board of Directors and a Supervisory Board. In the Board of Directors, there will be members representing major shareholder groups with a "leading" and general coordinating role, in which there may be alliances and connections between shareholder groups. That is obvious and not illegal when a group of shareholders has a consensus in proposing the dismissal or nomination of additional individuals before the General Meeting of Shareholders,” Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan analyzed.

“Even if you are a member of the Board of Directors or the Supervisory Board, if you do not work effectively, the shareholders have the right to propose dismissal and the General Meeting of Shareholders has the right to vote to elect another person to replace you. The operation of a bank depends on the whole system, not on a few individuals,” said Dr. Nhan.