VietNamNet Bridge - It is still unclear how GP Bank will restructure itself: will it be nationalized by the State Bank or successfully call for more capital?

 

SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh, in an interview on national Vietnam Television (VTV) last week, said “There would be other VNCBs”.

VNCB was taken over by the central bank after it took losses for many years. The bank sold for zero dong after a shareholders’ meeting in early February.

The move by the central bank to take over VNCB would help revive the commercial bank which has undergone a mandatory restructuring process.

However, the information from other sources varies. There are signs indicating that GP Bank is still making every effort to grab its last chance by calling for more capital from investors.

VNCB, the bank taken over by SBV several days ago, also had one last chance.

A source said the VNCB board of directors still hoped that the bank’s existing shareholders and new investors would pour more money into the bank until 5 pm of February 5, which would help the bank overcome difficulties and raise the legal capital required.

However, three days before the deadline on 5 pm of February 5, VNCB held a shareholders’ meeting, where SBV announced the nationalization of the bank.

No miracle took place in the final days. VNCB could not call for more capital to avoid a compulsory takeover.

A “last chance” was also granted to GP Bank. And what will happen to it?

Deputy Governor of the State Bank Nguyen Phuoc Thanh on February 27 told the press that the State Bank may take over GP Bank as it did with VNCB.

Just days later, GP Bank’s CEO Pham Quyet Thang, in an interview with the local press, had different information.

“Many domestic investors came to see us to learn more about GP Bank. They realized that GP Bank is stable with good fundamentals and have decided to invest in the bank,” Thang said in the interview.

“I believe that everything will be completed in the time to come,” Thang added.

An analyst commented that Thang has tried to send word that GP Bank has taken full advantage of the last chance granted to it, and that domestic investors have decided to pour capital into GP Bank.

The analyst said GP Bank has a “strange destiny”. 

The State Bank once said that GP Bank would be sold in entirety to a foreign banker, which analysts guessed was a Singaporean bank. However, the deal failed.

Thang, when asked about SBV’s statement about nationalization, said this was one of the many solutions that SBV, as a watchdog agency, needs to consider.

TBKTVN