Eximbank "Going North" to expand the market

At the Congress, a shareholder asked whether moving the headquarters would affect the benefits of the Southern bank's employees. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, Acting General Director of Eximbank, affirmed: "This is entirely for the best interests of the bank's development. Moving the headquarters to Hanoi will double the number of employees and will not affect the benefits of the employees."

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Eximbank extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on the morning of November 28.

According to Eximbank Chairman Nguyen Canh Anh, the authorities respect the bank’s right to decide on moving its headquarters to Hanoi. In the face of unverified information spreading on social networks, Mr. Canh Anh advised shareholders to only trust official sources that have been verified.

Moving the headquarters is an important event marking a turning point in the bank's development after 35 years of operation, demonstrating determination and strong action in the restructuring and transformation journey towards Eximbank's strategic goals from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, Acting General Director of Eximbank, said that Eximbank is shaping a suitable strategy for the coming time. “Eximbank has 2.4 million customers and this number has not increased in 10 years, while other banks have grown and spread across the country.

Eximbank is the Export-Import Bank of Vietnam. We wish to bring the Eximbank brand to cover the whole country, increase brand recognition in the North, develop business, logistics, infrastructure, not just finance.

Determining that the market is in a saturated phase, Eximbank needs to maintain and expand to keep up with other banks for at least another 3 years.

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Mr. Hai said the Board of Directors has consulted with the authorities and fully complied with legal regulations in submitting the plan to move the headquarters.

Commenting on this, Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc - Director of ANVI Law Firm said that moving the headquarters does not affect the safety of the bank's operations, does not affect the quality of bank assets, and certainly does not affect the banking system and the market in general.

“Moving headquarters is the right of banks. The State Bank only has an opinion when the bank is weak and needs to be controlled. At that time, the management agency will make recommendations on issues that need attention. In the case that the bank is operating normally, the State Bank has no reason to disagree,” lawyer Duc emphasized.

According to financial and banking expert, Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, the relocation of the headquarters will positively affect Eximbank's long-term strategy. Mr. Hieu said: "Eximbank needs strong changes from the Board of Directors as well as the Executive Board. The relocation of the headquarters could be one of the impacts that will put Eximbank on the trajectory of stable, long-term development in the coming period."

Dismissal of members of the Board of Directors and the Board of Supervisors

Today, Eximbank's extraordinary general meeting of shareholders also approved the dismissal of two members of the Board of Directors, Nguyen Ho Nam and Luong Thi Cam Tu, and approved the dismissal of Mr. Ngo Tony from the Board of Supervisors.

Previously, a group of shareholders owning more than 5% of charter capital submitted a petition to dismiss the above members.

This is a matter of great concern at this congress. Analyzing the proposed dismissal of members of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Board of Eximbank, economic expert, Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan said that banks are all subject to the Law on Credit Institutions, the Law on Enterprises, and the Law on Securities if they are joint stock commercial banks.

In addition, all bank activities must comply with the Bank Charter approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders. Therefore, the dismissal/election of additional members of the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board is completely normal.

“A bank is like a business, it also has a Board of Directors and a Supervisory Board. In the Board of Directors, there will be members representing large shareholder groups with a "leading" and general coordinating role, in which there may be alliances and connections between shareholder groups. That is obvious and not illegal when a group of shareholders has a consensus in proposing the dismissal or nomination of additional individuals before the General Meeting of Shareholders,” Dr. Le Ba Chi Nhan analyzed.

“Even if a member of the Board of Directors or the Supervisory Board is not working effectively, the shareholders have the right to propose dismissal and the General Meeting of Shareholders has the right to vote to elect another person to replace him. The bank's operations depend on the whole system, not on a few individuals,” said Dr. Nhan.