VietNamNet Bridge – The family of Tran Mong Hung has driven the Asia Commercial JS Bank (ACB) through difficulties and the family is now ACB’s largest shareholder.

Great power

Tran family.

ACB officially came into operation in June 1993. It used to be one of the biggest commercial banks in Vietnam before 2012, with Tran Mong Hung as the co-founder and the Chair in the early period.

In 2012, after a series of high-ranking officials of ACB were arrested, Hung's family came back to power in this bank. In September 2012, Hung’s son - Tran Hung Huy – became ACB’s Chair. Since then the bank has tried to stand up again after crisis.

By June 30, 2014, Hung’s family owned a huge volume of shares in ACB.

Specifically, Huy, who is currently ACB Chairman, held 28.77 million shares, equivalent to 3.07% of the bank’s chartered bank capital.

Hung, a member of the management board, had 16.52 million shares, corresponding to 1.76% of the charter capital of ACB.

Hung’s wife - Dang Thu Thuy - is also a management board member, with nearly 11 million shares, equivalent to 1.76%.

Thuy has worked at the bank since its first days and has held many important positions such as the chief of the office, HR Director, and Director of resources management.

Two other children of Hung – Tran Dang Thu Thao and Tran Minh Hoang - also owned 10.57 million shares (corresponding to 1.13%) and 11.5 million shares (1.23%), respectively.

In total, this family had approximately 67.8 million shares in ACB, controlling 8.36% of the chartered capital of the bank.

On the stock exchange, members of this family have been named on the list of the richest people for many consecutive years.

Also, six relatives of Tran Mong Hung are big shareholders of ACB, including his brother, his sister, his brother and sister-in-law.

Hung’s younger brother Tran Phu My Hung owned up to 7.4 million shares, corresponding to 0.79% of chartered capital.

Up to nine relatives of Hung’s wife - Ms. Dang Thu Thuy – had shares of ACB. Among them, Thuy’s younger sister – Ms. Dang Thu Ha - owned 1.01%, with 9.44 million shares.

The change of ACB

ACB Chairman Tran Anh Hung.

On August 21, 2012, the Vietnamese financial market in general and ACB in particular were shaken when Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien, a co-founder of ACB was arrested for investigation of irregularities in economic activities.

Within three days, thousands of billion VND were withdrawn from ACB.

ACB’s vice executive officer Ly Xuan Hai, Chairman Tran Xuan Gia and three vice chairs respectively resigned and were prosecuted.

ACB's total assets on June 31, 2012 were estimated at VND256 trillion. The figure dropped to VND214 trillion on September 30, 2012. By June 30, 2014, it was VND169 trillion.

After this crisis, ACB welcomed the return of Tran Mong Hung’s family. Hung’s son - Tran Hung Huy – was appointed the bank’s Chair.

Tran Hung Huy, 37, has become the one associated with the restructuring of ACB.

The young Chairman of ACB holds a master's degree in business administration from Chapman University, USA, in 2002. He also has a doctor of economics from Golden Gate University, USA. Huy joined the ACB Board of Directors in 2006 and was appointed Deputy General Director of ACB in 2008.

The Tran family, with one member ACB Chairman and two others on the board of directors, has gradually brought this bank out of crisis.

The new board of directors is determined to restructure the bank, especially dealing with bad debts publicly.

The non-performing loans (NPL) in ACB’s financial statements for the first 6 months of 2013 were more than VND3.3 trillion, approximately 3% of total outstanding loans.

"Transparency and health is the path we have chosen. ACB’s present difficulties are temporary. The requirement is how to handle the problems to make the bank really professional, to get with the growth pace of the economy. That is also the expectation of our shareholders," said Mr. Tran Mong Hung.

ACB has made timely adjustments in personnel policy and cost management to improve operational efficiency. ACB’s operating costs fell sharply one year after the crisis.

According to ACB’s financial statements of 2014, credit growth reached 8.52%, outstanding loans at VND116,324 billion, deposits increased by 12% to VND154,614 billion and total assets up by 7.8% to VND179,610 billion. Notably, pre-tax profit reached VND1,215 billion, a growth of 14.7% over 2013. At the same time, NPL was VND2,533 billion, down nearly 22% compared to 2013 and accounted for nearly 2.2% of total outstanding loans.

With these successes, the Tran family is gradually consolidating its power at ACB. It is clear that a “family business” model is being formed at this bank.

$1 = VND21,500

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