We are not them, Sacombank clarifies as customers confuse it with SCB

Sacombank chairman clarified Sunday that his bank and Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) are two different entities as some of the former’s customers mistook it for the latter.

"Sacombank and SCB are different banks. Moreover, depositors of SCB should check information carefully. They should not make withdrawals before the due date of term deposits because of unverified information so as to avoid the loss of interest," Duong Cong Minh said, as cited by the government's portal.

Since Friday, negative information about SCB has spread on social networks, leading to massive withdrawals of deposits before due dates at the Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered private bank.

However, since many people mistook it for SCB, they also withdrew deposits from Sacombank before their maturity dates.

On Saturday morning, Sacombank made an announcement on its Facebook account, explaining the difference between Sacombank, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as STB, and SCB.

Vietnam’s central bank pledged Saturday to keep the operations of SCB stable and ensure the legitimate rights of depositors amidst a run on the latter’s deposits since Friday.

The deposit withdrawals seemed to have been triggered by news of the sudden death of Nguyen Tien Thanh, chairman and CEO of Tan Viet Securities. Thanh, 49, was an independent board member of the HCMC-headquartered SCB.

The State Bank of Vietnam, the nation’s central bank, recommended that depositors refrain from making withdrawals before the due date of term deposits in order to avoid significant loss of interest. It stressed that it was keeping the whole banking system, including the SCB, stable.

Established in 1991, Sacombank was one of the first joint stock commercial banks established in HCMC. In the first nine months of the year, the private bank reported pre-tax profits of VND4,440 billion ($186 million), fulfilling 84.1% of the year's target. Interest accounted for 60.6% of its total revenues.

On the bourse, STB shares were priced at VND16,750 ($0.7) per unit at Friday’s closing session.