Sacombank (STB) Names Third Acting CEO of 2026 as Restructuring Accelerates

Overview

Sacombank (STB), listed on HOSE, has appointed Nguyễn Thị Kiều Anh as acting CEO (Quyền Tổng giám đốc) effective November 2, replacing Loic Faussier after close to four months in the role. It is the third change at the top of Vietnam’s fifth-largest private bank by assets in a single year, and the bank attributes the reshuffle to accelerating its restructuring programme.

Key Facts

• Appointment decision signed by Chairman Dương Công Minh on the morning of the announcement; Nguyễn Thị Kiều Anh takes the acting CEO role from November 2.
• Kiều Anh is 43, holds an MBA and has more than 20 years of experience in finance and banking; she joined Sacombank in late December 2025 and served as Deputy CEO before the promotion.
• Outgoing CEO Loic Faussier, a French national, was formally appointed in mid-July and held the post for nearly four months; he remains with the bank as a senior adviser to the Board of Directors.
• This is the third acting CEO appointment in a year: Nguyễn Đức Thụy took the interim role from December 23, 2025, was approved as official CEO by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) about three months later, and moved to permanent Deputy Chairman of the board less than two months after that.
• Sacombank’s management board now comprises nine people: one acting CEO and eight deputy CEOs.
• 9M results: pre-tax profit of nearly VND 5,900 billion; total assets above VND 1 quadrillion, up 15% since the start of the year; customer loans above VND 700,000 billion, up roughly 12%; deposits up more than 25%.
• Headcount across the bank and subsidiaries fell 25% in nine months to 12,550, with the parent bank at about 11,560 staff.

What Happened

Sacombank announced the appointment of Nguyễn Thị Kiều Anh as acting CEO in a decision signed by Chairman Dương Công Minh, effective November 2. She replaces Loic Faussier, who stepped down after close to four months in the job. The bank said the senior personnel change is intended to speed up progress and bring its restructuring plan to completion sooner. Faussier, who was formally appointed CEO in mid-July, will stay on as a senior adviser to the board.

The move extends an unusually rapid sequence of leadership changes. Nguyễn Đức Thụy joined as acting CEO from December 23, 2025, after stepping down as chairman of LPBank, and received SBV approval as official CEO roughly three months later. He was then named permanent Deputy Chairman of Sacombank’s board within two months, passing the interim CEO role to Faussier. Under Vietnamese banking rules, an acting CEO holds temporary authority pending formal appointment, and a full CEO appointment requires SBV approval — meaning Kiều Anh’s position is not yet final.

Market Context

STB closed at VND 66 on November 2, down 1.06% on volume of about 2.87 million shares, a muted reaction consistent with a personnel announcement rather than an earnings event. Sacombank remains one of the largest private banks on HOSE by assets, and its shares have historically traded at a discount to peers such as Techcombank and VPBank because of the unresolved legacy assets tied to its restructuring, including the Kien Long Bank and Sacombank-related asset portfolio inherited from the Trầm Bê era. The stock’s re-rating case rests on how quickly that project closes, not on quarterly profit alone.

Strategic Significance

For long-term holders, the relevant question is not who sits in the CEO chair but whether the churn signals progress or drift. Three acting CEOs in twelve months, with the most recent incumbent lasting under four months, is a governance pattern that complicates execution of a multi-year asset-recovery plan and may slow SBV approval of a permanent appointment. The offsetting read is that the bank is deliberately rotating senior management to push the restructuring over the line, and that Faussier’s retention as board adviser preserves continuity on the foreign-investor and capital-markets side. The 25% headcount reduction and 15% asset growth suggest the operational restructuring is real; the leadership question is whether it can be stabilised long enough to finish the balance-sheet cleanup.

What to Watch

• SBV approval, or delay, of Nguyễn Thị Kiều Anh as official CEO — the appointment is currently interim only.
• Any disclosure on the timeline for completing the restructuring project and resolving legacy assets.
• Q4 and full-year 2026 results, against the 9M pre-tax profit base of nearly VND 5,900 billion.
• Further board or senior management changes, given three CEO transitions in twelve months.
• Foreign-ownership and block-trade filings, with Faussier now in an advisory role.