On June 3, 2021, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) issued Document No. 3947/NHNN-TD requiring the chairpersons of the Boards of Directors/Boards of Members, General Directors/Directors of the credit institutions and the foreign bank branches in Vietnam; Directors of the SBV municipal and provincial branches to urgently conduct measures of preventing and removing difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Specifically, the SBV has required the credit institutions and the foreign banks branches (hereinafter called as CIs) to instruct their branches and transaction offices to implement the following measures:
Strictly implementing the directions of the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the local competent authorities related to the prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreaks; Proactively formulating plans to ensure safe and sound banking operations in any circumstances.
Continuing to implement measures of supporting and removing difficulties for COVID-affected customers, such as: rescheduling debt payment, exempting and reducing interest, fees, providing new loans, etc. in line with Circular No.01/2020/TT-NHNN dated March 13, 2020 on rescheduling debt payment, exemption and reduction of bank interest and fees, maintaining the same debt groups to support the COVID- affected customers; Circular No.03/2021/TT-NHNN dated April 2, 2021 amending and supplementing Circular No.01/2020/TT-NHNN; Circular No.10/2015/TT-NHNN dated July 22, 2015; Circular No.25/2018/TT-NHNN dated October 24, 2018 providing guidance for the implementation of Decree No.55/2015/ND-CP dated June 9, 2015; Decree No.116/2018/ND-CP dated September 7, 2018 of the Government on credit policies for agriculture and rural areas; Circular No.02/2013/TT-NHNN dated January 21, 2013 on classification of assets, ratio and means of risk provisioning and use of the provision fund to deal with risks in the operations of CIs, as well as other relevant amendments; Decision No.50/2010/QD-TTg dated July 28, 2010 of the Prime Minister issuing the mechanism to handle with risky debts at Vietnam Bank for Social Policies; Decision No. 08/2021/QD-TTg dated March 11, 2021 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decision No.50/2010/QD-TTg.
Each credit institution, based on their financial capacity and capabilities, shall consider to reduce their lending interest rates, reschedule debt payment and implement other support measures, as well as publicize their interest rates and other support measures and policies for all people to know.
Proactively coordinating with other departments, agencies and customers in the locality to understand the needs and promptly meet the capital demand for consumption of agricultural products and for production and business operations of the local citizens and businesses; avoiding situations of agricultural products being unable to sell, disruptions of the production and supply chains due to inability to access bank loans.
Enhancing the information dissemination and communication about the bank processes, procedures, online services and payment services; creating favorable conditions for bank staff and customers, especially customers in outbreak areas, COVID isolation areas, not to come to the bank to perform transactions, in order to ensure both disease prevention and provision of banking services.
Actively supporting the national and local funds for COVID-19 prevention and control, COVID-19 vaccination programs; implementing specific support solutions for the CI branches in the isolation and quarantine areas.
For the SBV municipal and provincial branches: directing all officials and employees at their branches to strictly follow the instructions of the Prime Minister, the SBV Governor, the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the local competent authorities related to the COVID-19 prevention and control.
Directing and urging the CIs to drastically implement solutions to remove difficulties for and supporting the COVID- affected customers; closely supervising and monitoring the implementation of the policies for supporting the COVID- affected individuals and enterprises.
Informing the local organizations and individuals on the solutions of the banking industry to address the difficulties for COVID- affected customers; proactively handling with any difficulties and obstacles in the implementation process.
Coordinating with the local authorities to effectively direct and deploy support and remove difficulties for the COVID- affected borrowers; promptly reporting to the SBV and the respective provincial people's committees for handling with any arising issues beyond their competence.
Particularly for the SBV branches in provinces and cities where social distancing measures are currently in place (Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, etc.): Directing the local credit institutions to urgently review, coordinate with the local authorities to assess the difficulties and damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreaks; on that basis, developing the relevant scenarios of the banking industry, proactively taking specific measures to remove difficulties for customers affected by the disease outbreaks; in case there is any issue or problem with the mechanisms and policies, the SBV branches should immediately report to the SBV headquarters for guidance and possible solutions.
The SBV branches are also requested to provide advisory services to the respective provincial people's committees in directing relevant departments and divisions to conduct daily operations on virtual platforms with the aims of ensuring smooth banking operations and promptly meeting the capital demands of the customers; speeding up the working processes through virtual platforms at the public administration centers, regulating the processing time so that bank staff and customers know and can proactively perform their working needs during the disease outbreaks.
Le Hang