Top technocrat seen as safe hands in Vietnam's new leadership

By Mai Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - In a country where factions, loyalties and connections can determine plum political posts, few among Vietnam's banking community would argue Nguyen Van Binh's rise to the Communist Party's politburo is without merit. Binh joins the party elite from a central bank credited with averting a banking sector collapse after $20 billion of non-performing loans (NPLs) started a contagion that shook the property market and wiped out tens of thousands of businesses. The Stat