Hanoi (VNA) – The Government presented a proposal on a draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam, the Law on Anti-Money Laundering, and the Law on Credit Institutions at the 16th National Assembly’s first extraordinary session on August 5, aiming to addressing legal gaps in anti-money laundering.
The Government said the amendments focus on urgent issues arising from the restructuring of the state apparatus, addressing legal bottlenecks in money laundering prevention and combat in line with recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), ahead of the OECD’s review in October 2026 and Vietnam’s eighth progress report to FATF slated for September.
The revisions also seek to settle financial mechanism issues at the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), enable it to fulfil its obligations as a member of the International Monetary Fund, support the Party’s goal of achieving double-digit economic growth, foster capital market development, reduce reliance on bank financing and codify restrictions on rights as required under Politburo Conclusion No. 09-KL/TW.
Presenting the draft on behalf of the Prime Minister, SBV Governor Pham Duc An said amendments to the 2022 Law on Anti-Money Laundering will redefine the concept of “beneficial owner,” classify virtual asset service providers as reporting entities and specify suspicious transaction indicators, oversight responsibilities and inspection powers for the Ministry of Finance in relation to virtual assets.
The draft also strengthens customer due diligence requirements, updates customer identification and verification rules, enhances transparency of legal arrangements, requires reporting entities to fully assess money laundering risks associated with new and technology-driven financial products, revises suspicious transaction reporting obligations and record-keeping requirements, and introduces protections for whistleblowers and information providers.
Amendments to the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam assign the central bank responsibility for compiling, monitoring and analysing Vietnam’s international investment position, while authorising the Government to specify the scope, type and method of information required for preparing the balance of payments and international investment statistics.
Presenting the verification report, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Economic and Financial Affairs Phan Van Mai called for clearer criteria for identifying beneficial owners, an assessment of the feasibility and compliance costs of collecting and verifying such information, and more detailed guidance on customer identification, suspicious transaction reporting, virtual asset services and data management.
The committee also recommended clearly defining the supervisory responsibilities of the Government Inspectorate, the SBV Inspectorate, the Ministry of Finance and other relevant agencies in anti-money laundering enforcement.
Regarding proposed amendments to Article 114 of the Law on Credit Institutions, the committee urged detailed provisions on the responsibilities of commercial banks acting as collateral management agents for corporate bonds, as well as the rights and obligations of relevant parties and the conditions for providing such services.
It further called for prompt issuance of detailed regulations on collecting and sharing international investment data, reviewing provisions on State Treasury accounts, permitted foreign exchange transactions within Vietnam, the SBV’s financial mechanisms, and introducing an independent oversight mechanism to replace the Ministry of Finance’s current role in supervising banknote printing, minting, destruction and state foreign exchange reserve management./.
