A customer doing transactions at a Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank branch in Hà Nội. Photo courtesy of the bank

HCM CITY — The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has reassured customers that their rights will be protected amid a recent case involving the loss of customer funds worth VNĐ338 billion (US$13.5 million) at a local bank.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, SBV deputy governor Đào Minh Tú said that “the affected customers’ funds will be guaranteed once responsibilities are determined at Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB).”

“The central bank upholds customers’ rights and will enhance regulatory compliance to prevent similar financial discrepancies,” he said.

“These incidents are isolated and do not reflect systemic issues within the banking sector,” he added.

The SBV attributed such losses to operational violations, mismanagement, misconduct, and possible collusion between customers and bank officials.

To prevent future occurrences, regulatory changes related to account management and security measures will be reviewed, according to Tú.

Commercial banks have been asked to enhance monitoring of account balances, conduct audits regularly, and ensure customer information security.

In the case of MSB, where one individual customer reportedly lost VNĐ58 billion, the bank’s Thanh Xuân branch director, Bùi Thị Hoài Anh, 40, has been arrested for allegedly misappropriating a total of VNĐ338 billion from eight customers of the bank.

Despite repeated complaints from affected customers, the lender has not provided any explanation for the losses.

When asked for comment by a Việt Nam News reporter, a representative of MSB on the hotline declined to provide a statement.

They only said the bank was actively collaborating with authorities and supplying all necessary information pertaining to the case.

When asked if it is a savings account at MSB, an employee at an MSB branch on Nguyễn Công Trứ Street in District 1, HCM City, who declined to be named, told Việt Nam News that after working at MSB for several years she is “unsure if it is a savings account”.

“Customers need to wait for a conclusion from the police,” she added. “Depositors should deposit money under a traditional deposit savings account at the counter and receive a physical savings passbook.”

The Hà Nội Police are currently investigating the case and working to recover the lost assets of the victims.

According to the police “there are signs of fraudulent appropriation of property and we are pursuing the matter diligently.”

In recent years, there have been multiple scandals in the banking sector, with depositors occasionally filing complaints about their deposits “mysteriously disappearing” after depositing them at commercial banks.

When such a case occurs, local banks would avoid taking any responsibility for protecting their customers, raising concerns about the safety of deposits in the banks, experts have warned.

Their typical response to customers and the public is “wait for a decision from the police”, a process that can be too time consuming to resolve the matter, they noted. — VNS