VietNamNet Bridge - In the last few years, unfamiliar names have appeared in the banking sector.

 

 

Do Minh Phu speaks at a TienPhong Bank's conference

Do Minh Phu, chair of Doji, a gold, silver and gemstone group, saw an opportunity to become a banker when TPBank encountered major difficulties and it was forced by the State Bank to undergo restructuring. 

At that time, many people commented that the businessman born in 1953 was too adventurous to jump into banking.  

However, Doji’s owner thinks that restructuring initiated by the State Bank helped him set foot in the banking sector, especially when the State Bank stopped considering applications to open new banks.

Like Phu, Vo Quoc Thang had no experience in banking until he turned up at the 2013 shareholders’ meeting of Kien Long Bank and was elected as the chair of the bank.

Explaining the decision to inject money into Kien Long Bank, the businessman who was also a National Assembly’s Deputy, said he wants to try different business fields. 

Vo Quoc Loi, the son of Vo Quoc Thang, is now the second largest individual shareholder at Kien Long Bank, holding 14 millions shares.

Phuong Huu Viet, chair of Viet A Bank, is also a ‘rookie’ in the banking sector. He joined Viet A Bank in 2011 when his Viet Phuong Group decided to inject money into the bank, which was put under pressure as it had to raise chartered capital to VND3 trillion.

Viet, born in 1954, while a newcomer in the banking sector, is an influential businessman. He is, like Pham Nhat Vuong, a Vietnamese dollar billionaire recognized by Forbes, and is one of Vietnamese who started their businesses in Eastern Europe. 

Viet’s Viet Phuong Group is now the biggest shareholder of Viet A Bank with 36 million shares, or 17 percent of the bank’s chartered capital.

Unlike the three bankers, Tram Be is not the chair of any bans, but is believed to be the real boss of two large banks, Sacombank and Southern Bank.

Tram Be became a well-known name after Sacombank changed hands in a hostile takeover deal in 2012. Prior to that, Tram Be was a careful, reticent businessman, who never appeared in local mass media.

Tram Khai Hoan, Tram Be’s son, is a member of Sacombank’s board of directors. Be’s family members now hold 84.2 million shares, or 7 percent of Sacombank’s chartered capital.

Meanwhile, his other son, Tram Trong Ngan, is deputy chair of Southern Bank. His family members hold 21 percent of the bank’s chartered capital.

VNE