Ocean Bank said on October 27 it has had no problem with liquidity since Ha Van Tham, former chairman of the bank, was detained by police last Friday on his alleged involvement in lending irregularities.

In a statement released last night, Nguyen Minh Thu, who has taken up the post of chairwoman of Ocean Bank after Tham’s arrest, said stability and safety are guaranteed for its operations.

The bank continues focusing on processing non-performing loans, and protecting the interests of shareholders and customers, Thu said.

After the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced that Tham had been suspended from his post last week, new senior positions have been announced to ensure business is as usual at Ocean Bank.

To meet the demand of cash withdrawals by depositors, Ocean Bank has prepared nearly VND15 trillion worth of the central bank’s treasury bills and government bonds convertible into cash at any time. The bank also has a large amount of deposits at SBV.

Ocean Bank said large economic groups maintain their deposits at the bank.

Last Friday, the police announced that Tham was charged of violating regulations on lending as regulated in Article 179 of the Penal Code.

Hours before his arrest, the central bank announced to suspend him from the post of chairman at Ocean Bank.

According to a SBV leader, the central bank found Tham had committed some serious violations. The central bank is closely cooperating with relevant authorities to deal with the violations at Ocean Bank.

Headquartered in Hanoi and having two branches in HCMC, Ocean Bank has total chartered capital of VND4 trillion. In the first six months of this year, it posted VND52 billion in pre-tax profit and VND46 billion in after-tax profit, down 65.5% and 61.5% year-on-year respectively.

SGT/VNN