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Wednesday November 1, 7:54 PMVietnam PM orders speedy trial in Dutch bank caseHANOI, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Vietnam's prime minister has ordered a speedy prosecution and trial of Dutch bank ABN AMRO and its employees over police allegations it broke foreign exchange trading rules.Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, in a directive seen on Wednesday, called for transparency in the eight-month-long case that has prompted complaints from European and U.S. business groups and strained the Communist-run country's diplomatic ties with the Netherlands. "Violations and guilty acts of all domestic and foreign individuals and organisations involved in the case must be brought to light in order to quickly bring the case to trial in line with the laws," the directive quoted Dung as saying. "Relevant agencies must ensure transparency in the process and minimise state losses, as well as prevent any negative impact on the investment environment," it said. A spokesman for ABN AMRO said the bank had neither been officially informed of the premier's order nor of his reported instructions to the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Bank of Vietnam to meet ABN AMRO representatives. "We continue to believe that our actions were legal and valid and we have not committed any crime," the spokesman said. "We would look forward to any discussions on the matter." Police and State Bank Governor Le Duc Thuy have said the Dutch bank's Hanoi branch broke Vietnamese regulations in foreign exchange trading with the Haiphong branch of state-run Incombank. Thuy said the Dutch bank "has had certain wrongdoings in adhering to Vietnamese regulations". Incombank, Vietnam's fourth-largest bank by assets, filed a lawsuit in early August seeking $5.4 million from ABN AMRO for foreign exchange losses, people familiar with the case have said. It said deals by ABN AMRO traders were speculative and made with an unauthorised Incombank trader. State-run newspapers have reported one Incombank employee was in custody. ABN AMRO said two Vietnamese employees of its Hanoi branch were being detained and two were under house arrest. The bank's country representative, a U.S. citizen, was allowed to leave Vietnam in August for treatment during pregnancy after being denied permission by authorities for months. In September, the Hanoi People's Court said a civil suit had been suspended and police were investigating possible crimes. Police have rejected accusation of unfair criminalisation levelled by foreign business groups. The European Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi both declined comment on the prime minister's orders in the case. |
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