From October 17, two "zero-dong" banks, Vietnam Construction Commercial Joint Stock Bank (CB) and Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OceanBank), were forced to transfer according to the plan approved by the Government.

Accordingly, CB was compulsorily transferred to the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), OceanBank was compulsorily transferred to the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB).

After the event, CB General Director Dam Minh Duc sent an open letter to customers. In the letter, Mr. Minh Duc said that after the mandatory transfer, CB will continue to operate as a single-member limited liability bank with 100% charter capital owned by Vietcombank and will normally carry out commercial bank business activities according to regulations.

At the same time, all contracts/commitments/agreements signed between CB and customers and partners continue to be valid. Thereby, all obligations, rights and legitimate interests of customers and partners are guaranteed.

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OceanBank becomes a bank with 100% charter capital owned by MB. Photo: OceanBank.

On the day of receiving the mandatory transfer decision (October 17), CB announced an early closure of the entire system from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for a general inventory to serve the transfer.

Meanwhile, the transferee, Vietcombank, said that the mandatory transfer aims to gradually restore normal operations, overcome weaknesses, and gradually turn CB into a bank with a healthy financial situation, ensuring the ability to operate continuously.

Vietcombank also left open the possibility of selling or transferring CB to new investors in the future. Vietcombank also affirmed that it would not contribute capital to CB while CB still had accumulated losses.

At OceanBank, after the mandatory transfer to MB, this bank affirmed that the legal rights of depositors and customers here are guaranteed in accordance with the agreement and regulations of the law; OceanBank's service activities are guaranteed to be smooth and continuous.

After receiving OceanBank, MB Bank will prioritize resources from business development, capital, technology, human resources... to support new members of the group.

For now, MB's Board of Directors has decided to appoint Mr. Le Xuan Vu, a member of MB's Executive Board, as MB's representative, to take on the position of Permanent Deputy General Director of OceanBank.

Mr. Vu has nearly 30 years of experience and many years of holding senior management positions at prestigious credit institutions, especially in the field of banking transformation and modernization.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank Dao Minh Tu informed that this agency will provide support to the banks receiving the transfer (MB and Vietcombank). The level of support depends on the restructuring roadmap of the banks, but support is "inevitable".

After OceanBank and CB, another “zero dong” bank, GPBank, will also be forced to transfer in the near future - Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu said. Another specially controlled bank, Dong A Bank, is also being implemented according to the roadmap, while maintaining the stability of SCB.

Regarding GPBank, at VPBank's 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Chairman Ngo Chi Dung mentioned the plan to take over a bank; at the same time, he affirmed that VPBank has enough resources and is ready to receive the transfer.