In recent days, potential candidates have been lining up to participate in restructuring Sacombank, one of the largest joint stock commercial banks in Vietnam, drawing avid attention from the public. 

The appearance of numerous “heavyweights” have called even more attention, highlighting names like New York-based Evercore Group Investment Bank, M&A consulting firm Redsun Capital Limited, and Dang Van Thanh, president of Thanh Thanh Cong Group. 

This is the first time Thanh returns to the field after a long absence from the financial-banking market since his 2012 incident with Sacombank.

Dang Van Thanh, president of Thanh Thanh Cong Group

A name intertwined with the bank

Over the past five years, after transferring his power at the bank he established and led in development, the market and financial investors have always stayed on the lookout for Thanh and his family.

Sacombank is often associated with the personal of Thanh. 

However, Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC Group) is now the professional headquarters both for him and his family. The group was established in 1979 as a molasses production facility. 

His family was directly responsible for all activities, including coordination, management, network expansion, and scale development—and in time, they drove TTC Group to participate deeper in sugar and related by-product production and trading.

When he joined the finance and banking markets in 1991, he deferred all of TTC Group’s activities to his wife, Huynh Bich Ngoc, who in turn passed the business on to their children. 

The group’s portfolio has been gradually expanded to real estate, energy, hospitality, and education sectors. 

After transferring his management position at Sacombank in 2012, Thanh has repeatedly emphasised his focus on developing TTC Group with his family.

The group’s growth rate has been steady over the years, accompanied by a marked expansion both in scale and performance. 

Through steadfast commitment to the principle of “Standard Management, Responsibility Control, Professional Operation,” the TTC brand has become known for promoting clean, green, and modern investment nothing short of international standards.

Thanh shared that the group’s success lies in decoding the fitting management formula and applying it with a steady hand to achieve pre-set objectives, while keeping a focus on sustainability.

TTC Group has been very welcoming when the trend finally hit Vietnam and rejoiced in seeing these principles spread in every business sector over the world. 

From banking and finance to sugarcane production, real estate, and education, TTC Group remained true to its motto “For community and local development.”

Effective economic development must be aligned with the objectives of stabilising and ensuring the livelihood of employees and the interests of shareholders, customers, and partners alike. 

Only by living up to these goals can an enterprise create the strong foundations necessary for sustainable development.

Returning to the year 2012, it was a turbulent period for both Thanh and his family. Leaving Sacombank gave wings to rumours that the bank’s management was lacking and that the outstanding loans of the related companies, including TTC Group, were getting out of hand. 

Resigning his position dented the reputation of Thanh and his family for a long time, despite there being no evidence at hand that Thanh and his associates’ management had caused risk or damage to Sacombank in any way.

In the wake of pressuring queries from the public, Sacombank representatives stated in April 2013 that the loans in question belonged to in-term debts and had good credit history. 

At the time of parting with Thanh in May 2012, Sacombank was planted firmly, operating in a sizeable network with a strong line-up of retail customers.

And the return of the “founder” of Sacombank?

Since leaving Sacombank, Thanh and his family have spent all their devotion and concentrated their resources on widening and deepening TTC Group’s activities, diversifying and enhancing Vietnamese brand.

The businessman shows the same passion as he did with Sacombank, saying, “We believe that necessary contributions are exactly explanation of our devotion effort.”

A bolt from the blue, Thanh’s decision to be involved in restructuring Sacombank enjoys wide support from shareholders and trusted international investors, particularly Evercore Group and Redsun Capital Limited. 

Furthermore, his passion for this profession seems to be urging him to return to the banking sector and assume leadership of Sacombank once again.

For this to become reality, besides satisfying the necessary conditions for involvement with Sacombank’s restructuring and finding common ground with associated investors, the final word stays with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

As a first step, the investor group has requested permission from SBV to access data as well as review and evaluate Sacombank’s performance in order to appraise its status. 

Afterwards, they will develop a detailed restructuring plan and propose specific mechanisms to the governing bodies to ensure effective restructuring.

Sacombank’s financial capacity has been strengthened by boosting its chartered capital by $905.3 million, aimed to improve its operational performance. 

The next step is to set up a Debt Settlement Committee, focusing on solving bad debts and recovering mortgages, as well as setting up risk provisions from the available income.

VIR