By Clare Arthurs BBC Hanoi Correspondent

Fifty-nine people have gone on trial in the Vietnamese southern city of Ho Chi Minh charged with bank fraud involving nearly $100m.

Reports in the state-controlled media say the defendants are facing charges of embezzling state assets and violating commercial law.

Several hundred people and organisations are expected to be involved in the court case - expected to last a month - including those who suffered as a result of the fraud.

The case comes as Vietnam takes another step towards reforming its financial and legal systems.

Extensive cast list

The 59 people on trial include bankers and business people, although a key figure in the fraud - the former head of the semi-private bank, Tran Tuan Tai - died in 1997.

Prosecutors are alleging that Mr Tai and others embezzled billions of dong from the mainly Chinese-owned bank Viet Hoa.

The accused allegedly took money from branches of the bank and used letters of credit for loans which were never repaid.

The alleged fraud was just one of the problems of the boom 90s which have left Vietnam's banking system with big debts.

The large ethnic Chinese community in Ho Chi Minh rushed to withdraw money from the Viet Hoa bank after Mr Tai's death, weakening it further.

Vietnam's Communist authorities have since revoked the bank's licence as part of financial sector reforms.

Endemic graft

The court case demonstrates the efforts of Vietnamese authorities to be seen to be taking action against corruption in one of the world's most corrupt countries.

It also highlights the problems ahead.

This week, legal authorities completed a year-long review of the legal system to identify reform targets for the next decade.

At a workshop attended by major international donors, Justice Minister Nguyen Dinh Loc said almost everybody working in the legal system needed to be retrained to deal with Vietnam's move towards a market economy.

The review identified key areas for reform - the courts are not independent and information about the law is not readily available.

On the positive side, Vietnam has made progress in setting up law schools and training programmes.

There has also been a shift in the way laws are made.

No longer are they simply announcements by the Communist Party. Increasingly legislation is developed by Vietnam's parliament, the National Assembly.