Vietnam

A Vietnam court sentenced real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death for her role in a $12 billion fraud case, underscoring the Communist Party’s determination to crack down on corruption, Bloomberg News reported. Lan, the chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, was arrested in 2022 and eventually faced charges including bribery of government officials and violation of bank lending rules. The main case against her was that she embezzled funds from Saigon Commercial Bank between February 2018 and October 2022.

Vietnam’s Shipbuilding Industry Corp., which is set to declare bankruptcy in the first quarter, missed out on a recent recovery in ship orders, with only seven currently in its order book, a yard manager says, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company, also known as SBIC, couldn’t compete with bigger rivals in China and South Korea, the manager adds. The shipbuilder’s bankruptcy is inevitable, Minister of Transport Nguyen Xuan Sang said in a meeting with employees.

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways JSC is rebuilding under its new chief executive officer, who is intent on proving the indebted six-year-old carrier has a future after shedding two-thirds of its fleet and 80% of its network, Bloomberg News reported. “We need our passengers to believe in our future,” Luong Hoai Nam said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “We need to make our investors, shareholders and potential investors believe in our future.

The turmoil in Vietnam’s property sector continues, with creditors embroiled in a dispute with developer Novaland Investment Group Corp. after it failed to pay interest on a $300 million bond, Bloomberg News reported. The company is committed to resolving the impasse with holders of its 2026 overseas convertible note in “a cooperative spirit, aiming to find optimal solutions that safeguard the interests of bondholders,” Novaland said Tuesday.

Some pilots have left Vietnam's restructuring Bamboo Airways in the last two months after late payments in salaries, Reuters reported. About 30 foreign pilots departed during that time, more than 10% of the airline's total pilot staff in June, according to one of the people, who declined to be identified as the information was not public. A second person said some pilots had recently quit and others were dismissed. Embattled Bamboo, Vietnam's No.

Thailand's second-biggest lender Kasikornbank is in talks to buy consumer finance provider Home Credit Vietnam in a deal of up to $1 billion that would further its push to expand in Vietnam, Reuters reported. The Bangkok-based lender, also called KBank, hopes to become one of Vietnam's top 20 banks in terms of assets by 2027. It has total assets worth $119.7 billion, second only to Bangkok Bank in Thailand, Refinitiv data showed.

Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh urged banks to provide cheaper loans with longer terms to attract foreign investors to develop green power projects in the country, Bloomberg News reported. Vietnamese ministries also need to sit down with wind and solar energy investors to understand their difficulties and losses in order to find a “harmonious” pricing mechanism for both buyers and sellers, Chinh said at a Hanoi conference Sunday. Renewable energy companies on Mar.

Vietnam's central bank on Monday said it would raise its policy rates by 100 basis points, the second increase in a month, in what it said was an effort to head off inflation risks, maintain stability and protect its banking system, Reuters reported. Effective Tuesday, the refinancing rate will be increased to 6.0% and the discount rate to 4.5%, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said in a statement.

It was a jarring image for one of the world’s fastest growing economies: Scores of Vietnamese flooded branches of the nation’s fifth-largest bank to pull out their savings amid rumors the lender was tied to a real estate conglomerate under investigation for fraud, Bloomberg News reported. Vietnam’s central bank spent the last week calming markets and depositors while Saigon Commercial Bank raised interest rates and lured back customers. On Saturday, the regulator said it would place the privately-held lender under “special scrutiny” and directed four banks to help manage it.