Agribank Suffers Losses in Foreign Currency Trading
The Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank), the largest State-owned bank in Vietnam in terms of chartered capital, suffered a serious losses in 2004 due to poor management, said the central bank investigators.
By the end of 2004, Agribank’s Forex Business and Management Board had collected VND1,163 billion from foreign currency trading while it spent VND1,663 billion, generating a loss of VND500 billion (US$31.64 million).
In the final quarter of last year alone, the bank’s loss accounted for 98.9 per cent of the year’s total losses, reported at VND447.6 billion (US$28.3 million).
The central bank investigators said that the loss in Agribank resulted from the weaknesses in capacity of bank leaders and affiliate management teams.
All losses belong to the US dollar and EUR purchases, which were conducted by Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy director of the forex affiliate.
Tuan submitted inaccurate reports about operations at his agency that cost the bank. He did not inform the bank in time to correct for the losses until they worsened, said investigators.
Agribank established its arm for capital and foreign currency trading and management in April last year. However, the subsidiary has not performed well and consequently gone into the red.
The central bank has asked Agribank to review the duties of responsible individuals at the agency to come up with answers.
Liberated Saigon, Young People Online
Vietnamese
