Police in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City raided the headquarters of Galaxy Debt Trading Company and Home Credit Vietnam, a consumer finance provider, over extortion and asset appropriation allegations on Tuesday.

Hundreds of police officers inspected the office of Galaxy Debt Trading on the first and second floors of Linh Tay Tower in the namesake ward in Thu Duc City on Tuesday morning.

In front of the building, there were many traffic police officers, mobile police officers, and security guards.

Inside the searched facilities, the firm’s employees were asked to stop working for the inspection.

The firm reportedly specializes in debt trading and financial services.

On the afternoon of the same day, police cordoned off the headquarters of Home Credit Vietnam Finance Company on Nguyen Dang Giai Street in Thu Duc City’s Thao Dien Ward for a search.

The firm, with hundreds of employees, is active in the personal financial field.

The Ministry of Public Security and police in many cities and provinces have recently cracked down on several illegal debt collection rings that misappropriated assets of debtors.

Investigation results showed that hundreds of thousands of people were threatened and terrorized for their late debt payments.

In mid-March, police in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City prosecuted 14 debt collectors over asset appropriation related to Vietnam Thinh Vuong Debt Trading JSC and THT Law Company.

Besides, Ho Chi Minh City police have launched criminal proceedings against 26 individuals who are employees at Mirae Asset Finance Company and Power Law Company over calumny.

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Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) – a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) – to issue 15 percent of equity stake through a private placement, officially welcoming SMBC as a foreign strategic investor of the bank.

The investment from SMBC will help the bank raise VND35.9 trillion, or approximately US$1.5 billion, of Tier 1 capital, increasing its owner equity to around VND140 trillion from VND103.5 trillion.

This comes as part of the capital raising plan that VPBank has been implementing during 2022-23 in order to enhance its long-term financial strength and support the bank to reach ambitious growth strategy over the next five years.

Following the latest SMBC’s strategic investment, VPBank will become Vietnam’s second largest bank in terms of owner equity, which allows it to serve a wide range of customer needs in various segments, including retail banking, corporate banking and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The robust capital stance will also back VPBank in serving large-scale enterprises, particularly the foreign direct investment (FDI) and multi-national companies that have been or will be investing in Vietnam. 

The new investment also proves a strong and trusted collaboration between SMBC and VPBank, since the two parties entered into a business partnership agreement in May 2022.

Previously, in 2021, SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd – a subsidiary of SMFG – also acquired a 49 percent of equity stake in FE Credit, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VPBank.

SMBC, through this investment, will contribute towards VPBank’s growth by leveraging its know-how and business expertise accumulated in other Asian markets. SMBC is thus expected to help accelerate the digital transformation at VPBank, in order to deliver customer-centric banking products and services and superior customer experience.

Furthermore, thanks to the great reputation of a large financial institution like SMBC, the strategic deal is anticipated to attract and encourage potential FDI companies among the 200,000 corporate clients of SMBC to come and expand their investment in Vietnam.

These potential enterprises, once enter Vietnam successfully, will also likely become clients of VPBank.

For SMBC itself, through the rapport built with a local bank like VPBank, the group will be able to strengthen its foothold in the country and exploit opportunity to serve local investment projects, particularly those in the field of infrastructure construction and green and sustainable growth that the group has been paying attention to in recent years.

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As one of the earliest-established joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam, VPBank has achieved sustainable development throughout its 30-year history.

VPBank is now the leading commercial bank in Vietnam in terms of efficiency and profitability, with strong presence in retail and SME segments. It is also the digital pioneer implementing end-to-end digitization to deliver distinctive customer value propositions. As of December 31, 2022, VPBank’s total assets amounted to approximately $27 billion, with a network of 251 branches national wide.

VPBank is also among the best-capitalized banks with CAR at approximately 15 percent, well beyond the regulatory requirement, which has strengthened its balance sheet and provides headroom for future growth. 

For more information, please visit https://www.vpbank.com.vn

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is one of the largest commercial banks in Japan. With offices in 39 countries and regions including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania, SMBC has an extensive global network and growing international presence.

SMBC and its group companies offer a broad range of financial services, including deposit taking, lending, securities brokering and trading, securities investment, money transfer, foreign currency exchange, corporate bond trustee services and custody services, financial futures underwriting, investment trust sales and other commercial banking activities.

SMBC is rated “A” by Fitch Ratings, “A” by Standard & Poor’s Global, and “A1” by Moody’s.

For more information, please visit https://www.smbc.co.jp/global