Maybank hounded by Vinashin exposure

Questions abound over Maybank role in the funding of troubled state-owned Vinashin's US$600mil facility now that the shipbuilder has defaulted again.

Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group or Vinashin officials had asked holders of a three trillion dong 10-year bond issued in 2007 and which the company defaulted on in April 13, to write off as much as 90% of the debt owed.

The officials had told creditors that the company was unable to make any loan payments until 2015 at the earliest.

Vinashin had already defaulted on an initial payment of US$60mil to a consortium of foreign creditors that funded the US$600mil facility which became due on Dec 20.

The company had also failed to meet the extended Dec 23 deadline. Vinashin's chairman Nguyen Ngoc Su had asked foreign creditors of this facility for a one-year extension.

According to a May 31 report by Financial Times' Debtwire news service, Maybank together with Credit Suisse, Depfa Bank plc, Elliott VIN and Standard Chartered Bank were among banks that formed a steering committee last year on Vinashin's debt woes. Standard Chartered resigned from the committee in April.