Sep 6, 2012

Vietnam - Prime Minister closely monitors Duong Chi Dung’s case - Minister

Follow Me on Pinterest
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has monitored very closely for the arrest of fugitive official Duong Chi Dung, said Vu Duc Dam, Minister-Chairman of the Government Office in a recent meeting.

The general inspection of the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) for investigation, prosecution and the application of preventive measures, especially for Duong Chi Dung, have been conducted in accordance with the provisions of the law, said Minister Dam at the monthly conference of the Government Office.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who is also the Head of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, has ordered relevant state agencies to handle this case very closely from the beginning, as prescribed by law, he added.

“The PM’s direction follows his statement that that all persons are equal before the law, without any exception.”

Duong Chi Dung fled away one day before the official issue of an indictment and arrest warrant issued for him in early May.

Dung has been wanted internationally since May 19 following his alleged economic offenses when he was board chairman of Vinalines.

Minister Vu Duc Dam said the Prime Minister also directed to clarify whether or not there are the acts of covering up and abetting Duong Chi Dung escape for appropriate punishments.

No "forbidden zones"

Regarding the arrest of banking mogul Nguyen Duc Kien late last month, Minister Dam said are no "forbidden zones" in handling banking crime and criminals.

As the national banking system is the lifeblood of the economy, its own weaknesses have been one of the major causes for macroeconomic instability in the past few years, he said.

Therefore, the restructuring of the banking system to ensure the healthy development of the economy is the top priority task at present, he said, adding that the problem had been raised before the arrest of Kien .
In the criminal law of Vietnam, there are currently no specific charges for "illegal acquisition in banking sector”.

However, the national law on credit institutions currently regulates a limit on the percentage share of ownership to minimize such unhealthy activities and prevent any individual or organizations from obtaining the right to govern a bank.

It states that an individual shareholder may not own more than 5 percent of the charter capital of a credit institution, while institutional shareholders may not own more than 15 percent of the charter capital of a credit institution, except in some special cases.

In addition, shareholders and their relevant individuals may not own over 20 percent of the charter capital of a credit institution.

As a result, violations in banking acquisitions occur when individuals or organizations circumvent the provisions of the cap on share ownership percentage.

Therefore, the authorities have carried out the necessary work, some of which have been informed to press agencies. The most important task is to clean up the whole system to ensure that the lifeblood of the economy to be streamline, thus making the economy healthy.

Regarding Tuoi Tre reporter’s question that should the Government measure the knock-on effects to the banking system when issue the arrest warrant for Kien, Dam said though there were negative impacts to the operation of the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) a few days after the arrest Kien, the situation was stabilized then.

“Of course the government had mapped out many impact assessment plans to the banking system beforehand. If not, how could we stabilize the situation as it occurred?"

TUOI TRE


Business & Investment Opportunities 
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com

No comments:

Post a Comment