Vietnam mulls ban on expats making foreign-currency desposits

The idea of banning the gifting of foreign currency is also lame. I assume the great majority of Viet Kieu returning with money for their extended families bring in far more money than they admit to, and this money rolls into the economy. Of course, now Viet Kieu can supposedly get Vietnamese dual citizenship. So, those who do can stay within the law, and those who don't will be in violation. I wonder what effect that will have on Tet gifting.

THD,

"Grandfathered"???  What are you, an American???   

When Number 1 wants something, He will get it! 

Right now, the wise thing to do is send you greenbacks home or into an account outside of Vietnam.  Then, wire them in, or get someone to send them in to you as needed.

Vietnam is getting desperate...  Be careful with your wallets there, fellas.

.

Wild_1 wrote:

THD,

"Grandfathered"???  What are you, an American???   

...
Vietnam is getting desperate...  Be careful with your wallets there, fellas.

Never heard of the Grandfather clause before?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_clause

A grandfather clause is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from the new rule are said to have grandfather rights or acquired rights.

I think Howie knows what grandfathered means...

what does this law mean???
Foreigners cant not put money in vietnamese banks anymore?
IS it just the dollar deposit theyre talking about?
OR the dong deposit for foreigners to?

Thank you, Khanh.  You see...  THD has no football.  So, he has to find something to fill his day with.    You should be proud of him. 

Hang in there, THD.  I will be coming with the football shortly...

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Only "mulling" about it but might as well go open a savings account now so you can be "grandfathered" in before the hammer comes down on us (if it happens - if not, no biggie).

http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/page … etnam.aspx

The article also mentioned the $2 bill being gifted a lot during Tet. I happen to be one of those strange guys that used to always use $2 bills in the states. I would always order  five hundred every month from my bank to use as spending money. Still have a stack of 100 here with me. Guess I can make some friends happy for the holidays.

Man, I have been passing out them lucky bills for the past 5 Tets.  I had just talked to my bank about getting some more this year, too...

Wild_1 wrote:

Man, I have been passing out them lucky bills for the past 5 Tets.  I had just talked to my bank about getting some more this year, too...

Just don't spend the $2 bills at Best Buy..in Baltimore.

http://www.wnd.com/2005/04/29732/

Bolesta says the cashier marked each bill with a pen. Other store employees began to gather, a few of them asking, “Are these real?”

“Of course they are,” Bolesta said. “They're legal tender.”
According to the Sun report, the police arrest report noted one employee noticed some smearing of ink on the bills. That's when the cops were called. One officer reportedly noticed the bills ran in sequential order.

Said Bolesta: “I told them, ‘I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank.' I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, ‘We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'

Or Taco Bell

http://www.snopes.com/business/money/tacobell.asp

Security: "Mike, what's wrong with this bill?"
Manager: "It's fake."
Security: "It doesn't look fake to me."
Manager: "But it's a $2 bill."
Security: "Yeah?"
Manager: "Well, there's no such thing, is there?"


Apparently it's the "unlucky bill" in the US so might as well export it to Việt Nam.

I love the speed topics get totally changed.  From mulling money imports to $2 bills. But back to topic wouldn't the nam goverment  tax the interest  from the people who deposit money in the countries banks? I would think you would love people depositing money in your bank.

Sorry just the whole thing. $2 were mentioned.

It's all part of the national policy of reducing the "dollarization" of the economy.  In other words, if everybody spent Dollars instead of Đồng, then the government loses it's ability to print local money.

So I think by limiting the dollar deposits in local banks, they are cutting off the supply.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/busine … ation.html

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam vows to reduce the foreign currency deposit ratio to 15 percent by 2015 and stop the dollarization by 2020.

so Vietnam wants to increase inflation again? And go back to the days of double digit interest rates essentially choking off business growth and the economy?

Isn't that what these Bo Tuc Van Hoa grads do best?

As a general rule, I think it is a good idea to keep most of your cash in your home-country bank and then transfer in/out as needed. Isn't this what is normally done?

jakejas wrote:

As a general rule, I think it is a good idea to keep most of your cash in your home-country bank and then transfer in/out as needed. Isn't this what is normally done?

Yes, if you do it in small increments then that would be fine.  If you transferred a large load and needed a safe place to store it, then you'd need a Vietnamese bank account.  This latest policy aims at not allowing foreigners to open bank accounts to stash those dollars.  The government doesn't want you to stash large amounts of dollars in these banks as the article was saying. 

Your (you and me and any US Citizen) have the FDIC assurance that we won't lose $250,000 if our US bank fails.  I have no idea about provisions against banks failing over here.  There are many weak banks as of late due to their bad bets in the real estate sector...the government just created a new corporation to magically buy these bank's bad debts. 

Anyhow, to do what you suggest is probably the best course of action.

So they just want you spend dong not dollars. So opening a bank account really has noting to do with it if you deposit dong not dollars into it?

Jakejas wrote:

As a general rule, I think it is a good idea to keep most of your cash in your home-country bank and then transfer in/out as needed. Isn't this what is normally done?

Yes siree, Bob!!!  That is how the wise ones do it. 

THD wrote:

I have no idea about provisions against banks failing over here.

The good Vietnamese, those who actually earned their money and are thinking about the future of their families, send their cash overseas, with relatives and friends even.

The not-so-fortunate Vietnamese buy gold.  Then, for their cash assets, they wine and dine their bank executives for updates on the financial statuses of their banks. 

They are how the Vietnamese have been doing it and will be doing it for years.

banks are failing in Vietnam because of bad loans.

khanh44 wrote:

banks are failing in Vietnam because of bad loans.

There was an article in today's newspaper talking about bad debt too.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/page … d-aug.aspx

State-owned banks are saddled with huge debts to state firms and have been blamed for high rates of real estate-related bad debts.

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

khanh44 wrote:

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

So are you a Canadian or are you a Vietnamese?

khanh44 wrote:

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

Are you talking about Vietnamese in Canada? The Vietnamese in Vietnam?  I already know about the ones in the U.S. I don't lend money, your chances of getting your money back is like zero. I've seen too many people get burned.

MIA2013 wrote:

khanh44 wrote:

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

Are you talking about Vietnamese in Canada? The Vietnamese in Vietnam?  I already know about the ones in the U.S. I don't lend money, your chances of getting your money back is like zero. I've seen too many people get burned.

Well, I classify people based on citizenship, not what they look like.  Because it's through the citizenship, many laws are applicable.  In other words, if I loan money to a "Vietnamese", then yah probably the odds of getting my money back is nill since I don't have the law on my side.  If I loan money to an "American" (who may be a "Vietnamese-American" (P.C. US label) or an "Overseas Vietnamese" (P.C. label by VN govt), or a "Việt kiều" (non-P.C. label by VN people), I can definitely take them to small loans court in America.

There was in fact a story in the newspaper of late about an Vietnamese-American who took his Vietnamese wife to court in California and the courts ordered she give everything back to him.  She fled back to Việt Nam and the US law can't touch her.  She's living it up on his dime.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

MIA2013 wrote:

khanh44 wrote:

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

Are you talking about Vietnamese in Canada? The Vietnamese in Vietnam?  I already know about the ones in the U.S. I don't lend money, your chances of getting your money back is like zero. I've seen too many people get burned.

Well, I classify people based on citizenship, not what they look like.  Because it's through the citizenship, many laws are applicable.  In other words, if I loan money to a "Vietnamese", then yah probably the odds of getting my money back is nill since I don't have the law on my side.  If I loan money to an "American" (who may be a "Vietnamese-American" (P.C. US label) or an "Overseas Vietnamese" (P.C. label by VN govt), or a "Việt kiều" (non-P.C. label by VN people), I can definitely take them to small loans court in America.

There was in fact a story in the newspaper of late about an Vietnamese-American who took his Vietnamese wife to court in California and the courts ordered she give everything back to him.  She fled back to Việt Nam and the US law can't touch her.  She's living it up on his dime.

Yep, I saw that story too. I wasn't classifying people by the way they look. But I heard of a lot of "Vietnamese" borrowing money and popping smoke back to Vietnam too. I was gonna get to that but you beat me to it.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

khanh44 wrote:

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

So are you a Canadian or are you a Vietnamese?

We're discussing the Vietnamese banking system so it would be those Vietnamese that take loans out. It's like candy to them. What's the worst that can happen if they don't pay back the bank? They won't be able to borrow money again and get hounded by phone calls.

But if they borrow from a loan shark they would pay it back if they can. And if not they get their possessions taken away and a possible beating.

khanh44 wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

khanh44 wrote:

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

So are you a Canadian or are you a Vietnamese?

... They won't be able to borrow money again and get hounded by phone calls.

...

Not even.  Just go buy a new SIM card with a new phone number.  I hear stories of loan evaders moving to the other side of the country to avoid the loan sharks.  Even officials just run across the border.

Exactly my point which is why loaning money to a Vietnamese citizen in Vietnam is a bad idea and not to expect it back. There is hardly any recourse to recover the money, like the weak ones I mentioned above, unless the borrower has strong assets such as a house or land.

khanh44 wrote:

Exactly my point which is why loaning money to a Vietnamese citizen in Vietnam is a bad idea and not to expect it back. There is hardly any recourse to recover the money, like the weak ones I mentioned above, unless the borrower has strong assets such as a house or land.

I've had people I barely knew try to borrow like 20 mil from me.  Hounding me on Facebook, texting me.  NOT going to happen.  They think that because I am a foreign I have lượng falling out of my pockets.

ChrisFox wrote:

khanh44 wrote:

Exactly my point which is why loaning money to a Vietnamese citizen in Vietnam is a bad idea and not to expect it back. There is hardly any recourse to recover the money, like the weak ones I mentioned above, unless the borrower has strong assets such as a house or land.

I've had people I barely knew try to borrow like 20 mil from me.  Hounding me on Facebook, texting me.  NOT going to happen.  They think that because I am a foreign I have lượng falling out of my pockets.

Well, don't go around acting/showing that you have money and you won't have this problem.  Start telling everyone you're unemployed, you leech off Uncle Sam for disability or SSI payments.  The house isn't yours...it belongs to a relative.  You're hiding out in Việt Nam from the FBI because you ate the brains out from the last guy that borrowed money from you and failed to pay.

But if they borrow from a loan shark they would pay it back if they can. And if not they get their possessions taken away and a possible beating.

In old Can Tho, according to my source, they'd hire lepers to sit outside the deadbeats house, and follow him or her around until they ponied up the money. (Sigh) Another class of people who've lost their previous employment in a changing job market.

lirelou wrote:

But if they borrow from a loan shark they would pay it back if they can. And if not they get their possessions taken away and a possible beating.

In old Can Tho, according to my source, they'd hire lepers to sit outside the deadbeats house, and follow him or her around until they ponied up the money. (Sigh) Another class of people who've lost their previous employment in a changing job market.

Come back here, retire here and we'll brainstorm something for them to do.  I remember seeing a leper sitting by the ferry just begging for money.  I'm not one to give away money as a means to end poverty...so there's gotta be a factory or some means of employment even the disabled can do.

THD wrote:

I'm not one to give away money as a means to end poverty...so there's gotta be a factory or some means of employment even the disabled can do.

Please tell me you are joking, right???  Taking advantage of the physically-challenged individuals is not one of the things that we want to introduce to Vietnam.  The social and economic standards there are still too low...

Wild_1 wrote:

THD wrote:

I'm not one to give away money as a means to end poverty...so there's gotta be a factory or some means of employment even the disabled can do.

Please tell me you are joking, right???  Taking advantage of the physically-challenged individuals is not one of the things that we want to introduce to Vietnam.  The social and economic standards there are still too low...

Nope, he is not joking. Unlike the U.S., Vietnam doesn't have a GOODWILL IND. to help their disable people. Or am I wrong?

That's what I told my soon to be wife. If neighbours ask why I'm always home and she's working just say she's supporting me which she is. Just got to swallow your pride.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Well, don't go around acting/showing that you have money and you won't have this problem.  Start telling everyone you're unemployed, you leech off Uncle Sam for disability or SSI payments.  The house isn't yours...it belongs to a relative.  You're hiding out in Việt Nam from the FBI because you ate the brains out from the last guy that borrowed money from you and failed to pay.

MIA2013 wrote:

khanh44 wrote:

yeah loaning money to a Vietnamese and expecting to get paid back is a bad idea

Are you talking about Vietnamese in Canada? The Vietnamese in Vietnam?  I already know about the ones in the U.S. I don't lend money, your chances of getting your money back is like zero. I've seen too many people get burned.

A very wise man (my father) told me you never lend money with the expectation you get it back. Especially with family or friends. This has served me well throughout life.