The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has announced that it will acquire all the equity of the Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB) as part of banking reforms.

The SBV said the acquisition is essential and stakes will be transferred at a price of zero dong per share. This is based on the law governing credit institutions, regulations on stake acquisition for specially-supervised lenders, and resolutions passed at VNCB shareholder meetings.

An irregular VNCB shareholder meeting to discuss evaluation and capital, as well its audited financial situation, was held in the southern province of Long An on January 31, the central bank revealed.

An SBV official, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Vietnamplus that the takeover is aimed at helping VNCB strengthen its operations, and the most important goal is to restore the bank's ability to pay money to people, who want to withdraw their deposits from the bank.

"We would rather pay money to gain social stability than leave people losing money, which will cause vulnerability in confidence and social problems that may prove to be even more costly to deal with," the official pointed out.

The SBV said the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, or Vietcombank, will also take part in managing and operating the VNCB. This is likely to help the construction bank succeed in its restructuring schemes and assure the public of its more efficient and secure business performance.

The VNCB is being restructured and had signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Vietcombank to facilitate growth and sustainability last August.

According to the central bank, its takeover of the VNCB will terminate all statuses, including the rights and interests of existing shareholders in the construction bank. But the legal rights and interests of depositors at the bank will be preserved.

The VNCB was established from the Trust Bank in May 2013. The Trust Bank was operational for 23 years with a charter capital of 3 trillion VND, or 142.85 million USD.

In mid-2014, the SBV appointed new officials to the VNCB after some former top executives at the bank were arrested for alleged violation of State regulations.

SBV officials had recently mentioned the possible adoption of strong measures, such as dissolutions, bankruptcies and compulsory mergers and acquisitions for reinvigorating the banking system's health.-VNA