Vietcombank Chairman Clashes With VINASME Over SME Credit at NA Debate

Overview

At a 17 October National Assembly group discussion on the draft Law on SME Development, Vietcombank (VCB) chairman Nguyen Thanh Tung attributed weak SME credit access to borrower-side weaknesses — thin financials, limited management capacity and insufficient collateral — and warned that mandating overly low lending rates would undermine bank funding. VINASME chairman Nguyen Van Thân argued the binding constraint is the funding mechanism itself, calling for an early financial sandbox and broader non-bank channels. The exchange matters for VCB because it frames the policy debate over SME lending quotas, rate directives and credit allocation that directly shape bank margins.

Key Facts

• The debate took place on the afternoon of 17 October, at a group discussion on the draft Law on Development of Small and Medium Enterprises.
• VINASME chairman Nguyen Van Thân cited nearly 6 million household businesses and close to 1 million SMEs in Vietnam.
• Thân proposed an early controlled sandbox for new financial models, expanded roles for non-deposit-taking institutions, microfinance organisations, funds and foreign financial institutions, and digital-bank lending models.
• Vietcombank chairman Nguyen Thanh Tung listed weak financial position, limited financial and production management capacity, weak borrowing plans and insufficient collateral as the main obstacles.
• Tung noted that even cash-flow lending or receivables-based collateral is hard to apply when enterprises lack qualifying receivables.
• Tung cautioned that requiring banks to lend at very low rates while funding costs rise would impair lending activity.
• The article does not disclose any specific credit package size, rate level or implementation timeline.

What Happened

Speaking at the group session, Nguyen Van Thân, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME), said capital is among the biggest bottlenecks for the sector that accounts for the majority of Vietnamese businesses. He argued that demand for capital for production, technology renewal and market expansion keeps rising while access remains limited, and that policy should not rely solely on traditional bank credit. He called for a controlled sandbox for new financial models, a wider role for non-deposit-taking institutions, microfinance bodies, funds and foreign financial institutions, and study of digital banks able to mobilise and lend quickly at low cost.

Nguyen Thanh Tung, chairman of Vietcombank’s board of directors, responded that support mechanisms must be substantive and targeted because support resources are always finite. He said SMEs struggle to borrow because of weak financial positions, limited management and market-development capacity, poor borrowing plans and inadequate collateral accumulated over time. Tung added that shifting to cash-flow lending or receivables-backed lending is not straightforward where enterprises hold no qualifying receivables, and cautioned that preferential policy must be priced sensibly: if banks are asked to lend at very low rates while funding costs climb, lending activity suffers. The remarks were made in the National Assembly debate; the article does not cite a formal Vietcombank filing.

Market Context

VCB closed at VND 56,900 on 17 October 2026 on HOSE, the reference price for this note. The stock trades as the sector’s largest capitalisation and is sensitive to any legislative signal on directed lending rates or SME credit quotas, since both feed directly into net interest margin assumptions. The draft SME law sits within a broader Vietnamese policy push to widen credit access without compressing bank profitability, a balance the State Bank of Vietnam has repeatedly flagged as difficult. No price reaction is attributable to this debate alone; the session was a legislative discussion rather than a regulatory decision.

Strategic Significance

For long-term holders of VCB, the relevant signal is that the bank’s leadership is publicly arguing against subsidised lending rates at the exact moment legislators are drafting SME support rules. If the sandbox and non-bank channel proposals advanced by VINASME gain traction, credit demand could partly migrate to alternative lenders, easing pressure on banks to absorb policy lending but also opening competitive space at the lower end of the SME segment. Conversely, if the law leans toward rate directives or mandated SME quotas, VCB’s funding-cost advantage would be tested. Tung’s emphasis on borrower quality also implies the bank intends to defend asset-quality standards rather than chase volume.

What to Watch

• The draft Law on SME Development’s progress through National Assembly review, including whether sandbox provisions survive into the final text.
• Any State Bank of Vietnam guidance on SME credit quotas or lending-rate directives following the session.
• VCB’s Q3 2026 results and management commentary on SME loan growth and collateral quality.
• Foreign-ownership and block-trade filings for VCB on HOSE.
• Formal VINASME or Government proposals on non-bank funding channels and microfinance expansion.