Vietnam Expands Rescue Of Bank Owned By Property Tycoon On Death Row

Vietnam's central bank lent another $1.2 billion to the ailing Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) over the last two months, according to a bank document seen by Reuters, taking the total to $24.5 billion as part of its efforts to rescue depositors, Francesco Guarascio reported for Reuters.

The massive bailout of SCB’s depositors has so far cost the central bank the equivalent of 6% of Vietnam's 2023 gross domestic product in special loans. I Photo: Daaé Wikimedia Commons

The massive bailout of SCB’s depositors has so far cost the central bank the equivalent of 6% of Vietnam's 2023 gross domestic product in special loans. In April, Reuters reported that the central bank had mounted an "unprecedented" rescue of SCB, a lender engulfed in the nation's biggest financial fraud.

As of May 29, the central bank had lent SCB 622.7 trillion dong ($24.5 billion), according to the document prepared by SCB that detailed daily injections into the bank to keep track of the funds and their use, up from 592.7 trillion dong ($23.3 billion) as of April 2.

SCB used the central bank funds to help it settle withdrawals and payments of 626.9 trillion dong since October 2022 when the lender was put under central bank supervision, the document showed.

At that time, it had deposits of 669 trillion dong. The State Bank of Vietnam confirmed in April it was providing financial support to SCB.

The run on SCB was triggered by the October 2022 arrest of real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, who in April was sentenced to death after being found guilty of masterminding a huge fraud at the bank.