Lawsuits and public demonstrations against the National Bank of Cambodia may occur soon, warned representatives of bank customers seeking to recover money lost when 11 banks were closed by the government in December.
Officials with the Depositor’s Right Protection Committee say the National Bank has failed to disclose how much depositors’ money it is holding. The central bank is coordinating distributions of deposits from the closed banks.
“We want to know exactly how much money liquidators have received,” committee Chairman Seng Phally said. “We want to know whether the liquidators will be able to give us all our money….The National Bank is allowing the bank thieves to steal money from us.”
The committee told a gathering of depositors and reporters Friday that the banks owe depositors more than $3 million on 2,400 accounts. But National Bank official Phann Ho said that figure might be an exaggeration. He said a report on the bank accounts has not been finalized, but should be ready by July. Liquidators are still trying to determine how much depositors are owed, he said.
Phann Ho added that liquidators must sell bank property and possessions before all deposits can be repaid.
“Buildings and land are not easy to sell,” he said. “We need more time in order to get a better price. The National Bank doesn’t want people to lose their money.”
The central bank closed the 11 banks after they failed to meet tougher banking regulations, particularly a $13 million capital requirement.
Management from the Agriculture and Commercial Bank management disappeared after the bank closed in December, leaving customers—many of them squatters and NGOs—without notice or payments.
Customers of the Agriculture and Commercial Bank, Cambodia Farmers Bank, Pacific Commercial Bank and Rich Nation Bank must contact Donat Branger, a bank liquidator, before July 12 or their claims will be made void. Branger’s phone number is 012-967-951.
The closure sparked a number of protests amid fears that bank customers would lose all of their savings. But about half of the bank’s customers reclaimed their deposits in April during an orderly repayment process overseen by a liquidator appointed by the Central Bank.
Customers of the Agriculture and Commercial Bank, Cambodia Farmers Bank, Pacific Commercial Bank and Rich Nation Bank must contact Donat Branger, a bank liquidator, before July 12 or their claims will be made void. Branger’s phone number is 012-967-951.
