Depositors in Vietnam have withdrawn hundreds of millions of US dollars from one of the country’s largest banks after the arrest of one of its founders. StanChart has a 15% stake in this bank.
The CEO of Asia Commercial Bank, Ly Xuan Hai, has been arrested on suspicion of committing economic crimes.
What this run shows is that:
– Doing biz in Vietnam can be dangerous if the authorities don’t like you.
– Banks like StanChart and HSBC do biz in some dangerous places and their high capital ratios and conservative loan to deposit ratio have a purpose. But really do all three S’pore banks need to be among the 10 safest banks in the world?
In a deflationary environment, leverage kills. Be safe or be bankrupt.