The paper investigates the impact of the statement of cash flows of listed companies on lending decisions of commercial banks in the context of Vietnam. Survey data for the research were collected from 160 credit officers of Vietnamese commercial banks for short-term and long-term lending decisions, whether the cash flow statement includes complete information or has a lack of information. The cash flow statement, in which the information on the cash flow is completely contrary to the profit information on the income statement is examined. This paper employed T-tests to address the research issues in a market considered to be ineffective, like Vietnam. The research results show: (1) the information on the cash flow statement affects both the short-term and long-term lending decisions of credit officers, and (2) the lack of information on the cash flow statement in both cases of positive and negative profits affects the comfort and confidence of credit officers in making decisions. The research findings also indicate that cash flow statements are important for lending decisions of credit institutions in Vietnam. Therefore, this paper provides a new insight to managers on how to improve the quality of cash flow statement to meet the needs of lenders.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a very important role in developing countries. In Vietnam, SMEs operating in the field of handicrafts, besides contributing to the economy, also tasked to maintain and develop traditional handicrafts. However, accessing loans from banks of SMEs faces many difficulties. This study explores the determinants of bank lending decision for SMEs, particular, in traditional handicrafts business. Using dataset based on a survey conducted in Binh Duong province, Vietnam, we investigated to what determinant effects for loan approval. The analytical methods used include descriptive statistics for overall assessment, principal component analysis and regression to examine determinants of lending decisions. The results indicate that company’s collateral was the most positive determinant to bank lending decision, follow by company’s business plan. The role of company’s leader is very important for banks considers to approve credit because company’s leaders experience and relationship with stakeholders as well as banks have positive relations with bank’s lending decision. Agreed with previous studies, the company’s financial statement and company’s credit history with banks are also significant determinants for lending decision. Whereas, the business environment seam unaffected lending decision as their relations is not significant..