Former LPBank chairman becomes acting Sacombank CEO

Former chairman of Vietnamese private lender LPBank Nguyen Duc Thuy on Tuesday assumed the role of acting CEO at Sacombank, immediately after completing the handover at LPBank.

Earlier on the day, the LPBank board of directors announced the relief of Nguyen Duc Thuy of the position of chairman, effective from Tuesday, due to "personal reasons" at the bank's extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) held in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

Thuy, born in 1976 in Ninh Binh province, graduated from the U.S.-based Colorado State University. Prior to entering the banking sector, he led a number of major enterprises across diverse industries.

Specifically, during the period 2006-2016, he was chairman of Xuan Thanh Group, Sai Gon Xuan Thanh Football Club, Xuan Thanh Securities JSC, Xuan Thanh Ha Nam Cement JSC, Xuan Thanh Quang Nam Cement JSC, and Kim Lien Hotel.

From 2017 to 2019, he held the position of vice chairman of Xuan Thien Group in charge of solar power projects and then chairman of Thaiholdings Group.

From April 2021, Thuy joined the banking sector as vice chairman of LienVietPostBank (now LPBank). He subsequently served as chairman of the bank from December 9, 2022 to the end of 2025.

In response to this news, the STB stock of Sacombank has hit its ceiling price for two consecutive sessions, rising to VND56,000 ($2.13) per share at the close of the Tuesday session. Meanwhile, LPB of LPBank recorded a decline of 5%.

At LPBank's EGM, the board also dismissed Nguyen Van Thuy from his position as vice chairman and Nguyen Thi Kieu Anh from the post of deputy CEO, effective Tuesday, also for "personal reasons".

Following Nguyen Duc Thuy’s resignation, Ho Nam Tien was appointed LPBank chairman, effective the same day, for the remainder of the 2023-2028 term.

Previously, Tien served as standing vice chairman of the bank, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as LPB. He currently holds 796,571 LPB shares, accounting for 0.027% of the bank’s charter capital.

For the first nine months of 2025, LPBank’s pre-tax profit reached over VND9.61 trillion ($365 million), up 9% year-on-year.

As of September 30, 2025, the bank’s total assets had amounted to VND539.15 trillion ($20.48 billion), representing an increase of 18.3% compared to the same period last year.

Recently, Finnish fund PYN Elite has gradually divested its holdings in Sacombank and officially ceased to be a major shareholder after completing the sale of 4 million STB shares. This has made Sacombank one of the few banks without a major shareholder in its ownership structure.

Sacombank is preparing to conclude a decade-long restructuring process (2016-2025), marked by extensive efforts to handle bad debts, recover collateral assets, overhaul its operating model, improve business performance, and enhance asset quality.

According to the bank’s leadership, the final bottleneck in the restructuring process is the divestment of the 32.5% stake held by the group associated with former vice board chairman Tram Be, who was sentenced to four years in prison on August 6, 2018 for intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.

Only after completing this transaction will Sacombank have sufficient financial conditions to increase capital and distribute profits to shareholders, they said.