On June 28, 2023, in Hanoi, in order to in improve the capabilities in preventing the risks in the banking operations at the credit institutions in alignment with the international practices, the Committee on Policies under Vietnam Banks’ Association (VNBA), in coordination with Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank), organized a Seminar on “Risks of financial crimes/money laundering faced by credit institutions and response measures and experience”.
Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung speaks at the Seminar
The Seminar was aimed to improve the awareness of money laundering risks, the new regulations on anti-money laundering, and to share experience in the process of preventing the risks of money laundering/financial crimes.
Within the framework of the Seminar, representatives from the Anti-Money Laundering Department, VNBA, Standard Chartered Bank (Vietnam) Ltd., other commercial banks, etc. participated in a roundtable discussion to clarify the substances presented at the Seminar.
Highly acknowledging the theme and the contents shared at the Seminar, Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung mentioned that it is both a new and difficult area, but it is also a critical issue to address in the banking operations, especially in the current context when the number of bank accounts is increasing rapidly (there are now about 150 million bank accounts, over 90% of transactions are made via the digital channels, etc.). Therefore, the SBV Deputy Governor emphasized that all of the banks should pay due attention to the anti-money laundering, the enhancement of eKYC, as well as the connection with the Ministry of Public Security to limit risks that may cause big financial and reputational losses to the banks.
An overview of the Seminar
The SBV Deputy Governor also shared that the SBV has constantly monitored and supervised the implementation; directed the credit institutions to implement measures to prevent money laundering and the related crimes, thereby mitigating the risks in banking operations; coordinated with the authorities to exchange information, and promptly handle with a lot of cases. Besides, the SBV has requested the credit institutions to provide due reports on any suspicious transactions and high-valued transactions to the SBV for monitoring and possible investigation.
In addition, Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung asserted that in the implementation process, the SBV has always been listening to ideas raised by the credit institutions in order to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against financial crimes in Vietnam.
In his concluding remarks at the Seminar, the SBV Deputy Governor requested the commercial banks to find solutions to detect any signs of suspicious transactions and frauds at an early stage in order to promptly address them; enhance the implementation of eKYC, and the cooperation with the Ministry of Public Security, etc. In the coming time, the SBV would develop an implementation plan on anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing, and would strictly penalize any bank that does not meet the reporting requirements in this area. The SBV Deputy Governor further requested the SBV Departments and the credit institutions to strengthen the measures to prevent and combat money laundering in the context of continuous changes in the macro-economic conditions.
Le Hang