Shareholders attempt to oust new Eximbank chairwoman

A group of shareholders in private Vietnamese lender Eximbank has asked the board of directors to dismiss Do Ha Phuong, who was elected chairwoman only two days ago.

Phuong had been nominated by the group as the new chair of Eximbank for the 2020-2025 term to replace Luong Thi Cam Tu.

Tran Hoang Ninh, a representative of the group, said Phuong had shown signs of abusing shareholders' trust for personal gain.

In a proposal sent to the board of directors, Ninh claimed that Phuong had arbitrarily convened a board meeting and voted to elect a new board of directors and dismiss the chairperson on Wednesday without the group's consent.

The group informed the bank’s board of directors, supervisory board, and CEO of the termination of their authorization and nomination, and proposed removing Phuong from the board of directors.

Also on Friday, the State Bank of Vietnam’s (SBV) banking supervision agency requested the head of Eximbank’s supervisory board to clarify the contents related to the convening of a board of directors meeting on June 1 and procedures for personnel replacement under the June 28 announcement, and report the results no later than July 3.

Phuong has a master's degree in finance from the UK's University of Westminster and a bachelor's degree in accountancy from the U.S.'s George Mason University. She has held senior management and executive positions at domestic and foreign credit institutions.

From May 2007 to November 2011, she held the positions of tax consultant, auditor and senior financial consultant at EY. After that, she worked as a financial advisor for the representative office of Coffey International Development in Hanoi.

In December 2012, she was appointed director of financial structure, debt structure, and credit risk at Vietnamese private lender VIB, and held the position until December 2017.

Phuong then left VIB to join Lotus Finance Company Limited as a financial advisor. In May 2018, she co-founded VNInvest Partners Co., and was its CEO until 2023.

Eximbank recorded a pre-tax profit of over VND900 billion ($39 million) in the first quarter of 2023, up 16% year-on-year.

Speaking at the bank's annual general meeting of shareholders on April 15, chairman Tran Tan Loc said in 2023, its pre-tax profit is expected to grow 34.5% to VND5 trillion ($213 million).

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, Eximbank's EIB closed at VND21,250 ($0.9) on Friday, up 1.19% against the previous session.