HCMC – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has written to the central bank governor asking her to verify rumors of commercial banks selling debts and secured assets.

Earlier, the Government Office had informed the PM of news reports that commercial banks were trying to sell and auction debts and collateral worth billions to trillions of Vietnamese dong to recover bad debts, the Vietnam Government Portal reported.

Argibank, VietinBank, BIDV, NCB, and Sacombank were cases in point. Most of the collateral was buildings and real estate projects.

They even sold unsecured consumer loans.

PM Chinh asked the central bank governor to tackle the issue and clamp down on violations of the regulations on banking operations.

Currently, only the Vietnam Asset Management Company is entitled to purchase and sell bad debts at banks, according to National Assembly’s Resolution 42.

The resolution, issued in 2017, pilots the settlement of bad debts and the treatment of collateral at banks.