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Vietnam Wonders if it Should Outlaw Loan Sharks

Ha Nguyen

   HO CHI MINH CITY - In the Vietnamese action blockbuster "Furie" viewed
   mostly on Netflix, the protagonist puts her gang days behind her and
   becomes a debt collector. The fact that filmmaker Veronica Ngo, whose
   recent credits include the Star Wars film The Last Jedi, chose this as
   a plot detail reflects how debt collection is a fairly well known part
   of life in Vietnam.

   As with the protagonist's past, some aspects of real life debt
   collection have become sordid and even dangerous, such that authorities
   are wondering if it should even be a legal business sector anymore.
   Critics worry that desperate borrowers have resorted to loan sharks,
   who could use illegal means to collect debt. Others say people with
   poor borrowing histories still need access to loans, especially when
   turned away by traditional banks.

   The debate, which began last month in Parliament, is similar to one
   that was had in the U.S., amid the payday loans and predatory lending
   that contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis. Now the debate has
   come to Vietnam, as consumer demand grows for housing, vehicles, and
   even smartphones, all of which can be bought through loans.

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