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| Mr. Ly Xuan Hai, general director of ACB |
Thoai admitted that there are some websites claiming that Ly Xuan Hai has been arrested but such websites are small, are blogs and not official news outlets.
All official newswires in Vietnam have either deleted their articles [about Hai’s arrest] or have not published such information, Toai added.
$240 million withdrawn from ACB
Yesterday, customers withdrew a massive VND5 trillion (over US$240 million) from ACB.
The $240 million is equal to the amount that State Bank of Vietnam - the country’s central bank - pumped into the banking system for urgent liquidity support on Tuesday - one day after Kien was arrested out of the blue.
The central bank has also assured depositors that Kien’s arrest has nothing to do with ACB.
The State Bank of Vietnam also has told ACB depositors to be wary of rumors to avoid unnecessary losses.
Kien holds less than 5 percent of ACB shares and is no longer a major shareholder, Toai said.
Meanwhile, ACB has set aside some VND15 trillion ($720 mln) for liquidity assurance in case of mass withdrawals, Toai earlier announced.
“Within control”
Yesterday evening, Do Minh Toan, deputy general director of ACB told the media that the bank has prepared for all scenarios and though there were “many withdrawals”, we were able to carry out all transactions.
Toan is now temporarily taking over the bank while his boss Ly Xuan Hai is cooperating with police on the investigation into Kien.
“As of the close of August 22, the amount of withdrawals was higher than one day before but much lower than the bank’s forecast”, Toan said.
“The situation is within control”, he added.