In 2012, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) – one of the biggest lender in Vietnam, underwent a

significant crisis which almost pushed the bank to the edge of breaking. It was when the tycoon
Nguyen Duc Kien, co-founder of ACB, had been arrested and investigated on economical frauds.
Subsequently, the CEO Ly Xuan Hai along with three other top management persons of ACB
were accused and announced their resignations. This has been one of the biggest crisis in the
Vietnamese banking history with tremendous effects on ACB as well as the national financial
market in general. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-vietnam-bank-
idUSBRE87M0FS20120823) The large spread of information had shown its immediate effect.
Vietnamese securities capital market made an VND 5.6billion loss within only 3 days and
trillions of withdrawal went out of ACB in a blink of an eye.
From the case of ACB, the important role of crisis management is reemphasized. Valuable
lessons can be learned on how ACB responded to this desperate crisis. In alignment with the
Situational Crisis Communication Theory of Coombs (2007), the case of ACB can be
categorized to the third type which is ‘the intentional cluster has very strong attributions of crisis
responsibility (human-error accident, human-error product harm and organizational misdeed) and
the event is considered purposeful’. Given similar situation had happened in 2003, this crisis was
a predictable event and suitable crisis management plan should have been thought beforehand.
ACB’s actions were not necessary to theoretically be formed into the exact 10 steps in managing
crisis of Cross (2009) (ivey) but their proper and immediate actions still follow core principle of
crisis management, which was proven to be important and effective.
At the beginning, the crisis hit hard on creditability and reputation of ACB which is the vital

factor of commercial banking business. Significant consequences occur instantly when

stakeholders lose trust in a firm, especially in financial market, and started to turn their back in a

panic way. Quoted from Reuters, depositors showed distrust in not just ACB but the whole

financial system: “I have some cash in ACB but since the bank belongs to the same system

controlled by the central bank, it does not mean much to withdraw cash from one bank to put it

in another, as all in the system face the same risk”. Immediate action that ACB has taken was to

calm the crowd by showing liquidity with dozen armored car of cash lined up to serve for
withdrawals. They also seek helps from Central Bank by pumping trillions into the banking

system. The government also joint to stop escalating the situation by stating that Mr Kien played

no part in managing ACB with his less than 5% of shares. Top management of ACB also had to

confront the crisis with both direct depositors at branch and the media. According to the crisis

response strategies of Coombs (2007), these actions of ACB can be seen as a mixed of denial and

victimize strategies to assert there is no problem in ACB’s operation and liquidity so that

stakeholders can feel secure, and ACB also were claimed to be a victim of Mr Kien’s crisis too

(http://cafef.vn/tai-chinh-ngan-hang/nhin-lai-1-nam-sau-khung-hoang-o-acb-

2013081906414728718.chn). Some other good efforts can be taken out from ACB’s case were

from their internal communication control. As the matter of fact, on social media, most ACB’s

employees actively show positive and corporative attitude to help ACB overcome the hard

situation.

Understanding the reputational damage of the crisis is significant, continuous solution were
taken by ACB themselves to recover. ACB took on long run strategies to restructure and enhance
the workforce as well as their controlling and compliance. By 2014, 2 years away from the crisis,
ACB has successfully repositioning their brand recognition and go on for sustainable growth.
These efforts had shown the effectiveness and helps ACB to get back from their previous
success. (http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/acb-da-vuot-qua-giai-doan-cang-thang-
483179.html).
At the end of the day, predicting crisis and put proper control is important regarding the case of
ACB. It is also important to learn from failures and urgently make right decisions at a short
period of time. In addition, crisis didn’t only leave consequences for the organization alone but
the whole financial system. The crisis had pointed out the fragility of Vietnam’s financial
markets which makes it’s hard to rebuild trust in stakeholders, especially overseas investors since
they were pulling back.
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9555410/Chairman-of-
troubled-Vietnamese-bank-ACB-quits-after-scandal.html) The harm of crisis is so significant
that a single threat of a firm can even put the whole economy into trouble. Therefore, ensuring
sustainable growth with compliance to moral and ethics is always a recommendation to avoid
crisis.
Reference:

Ho Binh, M. (2012, August 23). Vietnamese bank faces run

after tycoon's arrest. Retrieved June 26, 2015, from

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-vietnam-

bank-idUSBRE87M0FS20120823Ho Binh, M. (2012, August

23). Vietnamese bank faces run after tycoon's arrest.

Retrieved June 26, 2015, from

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-vietnam-

bank-idUSBRE87M0FS20120823

Thanh, P. (2013, August 19). Nhìn lại 1 năm sau khủng hoảng

ở ACB. Retrieved June 26, 2015, from http://cafef.vn/tai-

chinh-ngan-hang/nhin-lai-1-nam-sau-khung-hoang-o-acb-

2013081906414728718.chn
Xuan, T. (2012, August 27). ACB đã vượt qua giai đoạn căng

thẳng. Retrieved June 26, 2015, from

http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/acb-da-vuot-

qua-giai-doan-cang-thang-483179.html

MacKinon, I. (n.d.). Chairman of troubled Vietnamese bank

ACB quits after scandal. Retrieved June 26, 2015, from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksan

dfinance/9555410/Chairman-of-troubled-Vietnamese-bank-

ACB-quits-after-scandal.html

Coombs, T. (2007). Protecting Organization Reputations

During a Crisis: The Development and Application of

Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Corporate

Reputation Review, 163-176.