Vietnam continues support for bank engulfed in massive fraud, central bank says

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's central bank said on Friday it had continued providing support to Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), which it put under special supervision in October 2022 after a run on its deposits.

Reuters reported on Wednesday the central bank had pumped nearly $24 billion in SCB to prevent its collapse, and that special loans to the bank had continued at least until early April.

The central bank placed SCB under its supervision to stem a run on the bank sparked by the October 2022 arrest of real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, who was last week sentenced to death over her role in a $12.5 billion financial fraud case, Vietnam's biggest of its kind.

"SCB has caused difficulties or may be in crisis. Like other central banks, we have to intervene. It's in accordance with our regulations," State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) deputy governor Dao Minh Tu told a press conference, acknowledging the SBV's lending to SCB.

"We continue to have a roadmap to restructure it step-by-step and study possible mechanisms, solutions to help the bank recover," Tu said, adding the bank was stable.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu, writing by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Martin Petty)