ABN Amro makes Vietnam settlement

By Bill Heyton
BBC News, Hanoi

ABN Amro has yet to hear that its staff have been freed

Dutch bank ABN Amro has paid out $4.5m (£2.2m) to try to settle a dispute with the Vietnamese authorities that have detained four of its staff.

The dispute arose from foreign currency dealings involving it and a local state-owned bank.

In March police arrested a dealer at the Haiphong branch of the Industrial and Commercial bank, accusing her of losing $5.4m in currency transactions.

They then detained four members of ABN Amro's staff, accusing them of fraud.

Worried investors

ABN Amro said the transactions were legal but INCOM bank and the police continued to demand the money back.

Earlier this month Vietnam's prime minister ordered all sides to resolve the dispute.

He hinted that the police may open further investigations into ABN Amro's dealings with another bank - dealings which have already been examined by the country's central bank and cleared.

Observers of the case have said that in the past Vietnamese courts have usually favoured local companies in disputes with foreign firms, and suggested that the Dutch bank paid out in order to end the case and get its staff released from prison.

However, so far the ABN Amro staff have not been freed.

The dispute has alarmed foreign investors in Vietnam, who fear that the rule of law isn't being applied fairly in some cases.