On September 24, 2018 in Hanoi, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and VinaCapital Ventures, organized a workshop on “International Experience in Peer-to-Peer Lending” in order to share the experience in Fintech regulatory sandbox that have been implemented in the ASEAN countries. SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh, Vice Chairperson of the SBV’s Steering Committee on Fintech, attended and made an opening speech at the workshop.
Also attending the workshop were over 100 representatives from the central banks and the financial management authorities of such countries as China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, together with several line ministries and agencies, international institutions, domestic commercial banks, Vietnam Fintech Association and Fintech enterprises.
An overview of the Workshop
The goal of the workshop was to help the advisory entities of the SBV, the state management authorities and the commercial banks to acquire in-depth understanding of practical peer–to-peer lending (P2P lending) in the world and in Vietnam, the development trends, the benefits and risks, and especially the mechanisms, policies and regulations on P2P lending in several countries in the region.
In his opening speech, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh said that the SBV always attaches a special attention and strong support for the development of Fintech enterprises and Fintech field. In 2017, the SBV established the SBV’s Steering Committee on Fintech in order to improve the legal framework, as well as to create a sound ecosystem for Fintech companies to provide their services and solutions to the banking sector in Vietnam.
Vietnam has formulated a legal framework and a mechanism for the management and supervision of the payment intermediary services provided by non-bank institutions, which are often regarded as Fintech in payments.
After nearly ten years of formation and development, this field has contributed positively to the enhancement of innovations in the payment activities, bringing many facilities and practical values to the service users, as well as helping make payment and banking services to get closer to Vietnamese people in the rural and remote areas.
At the workshop, Mr. Eric Sigwick, the ADB Country Director in Viet Nam, emphasized the role and the meaning of the Fintech field. According to Mr. Eric Sigwick, P2P lending experienced a period of fast growth and development in 2005 around the the globe. Although P2P can create enormous socio-economic benefits, it also contains potential risks for the relevant parties. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor strictly this field to mitigate the risks and improve the awareness of the relevant parties.
Mr. Eric Sigwick, the ADB Country Director in Viet Nam, speaks at the Workshop
Moreover, he said that the emerging of Fintech and P2P lending is inevitable and Vietnam cannot be an exemption. He hoped that there would be many useful discussion sessions and experience exchanges on Fintech and P2P lending like this workshop in the future.
At the workshop, the presenters from the ADB and the central banks briefed of the prospects for P2P development, the experience in the implementation, the management of P2P lending in several regional countries. Especially, during the panel session on the relevant policies at the Workshop, the attendants and the panelists had an active discussion about the specific recommendations on P2P lending in Vietnam.
With the role of the state management authority in the monetary and financial field, the SBV has full awareness of the benefits and the potential risks of P2P lending. Therefore, the SBV has been studying and assessing the positive and negative sides, the risks and other relevant issues of P2P lending. Currently, the SBV’s functional departments are putting a lot of efforts to study the models of P2P lending in the world, the management experience and the operational supervision in other countries in order to formulate a legal framework which can bring out the positive aspects of this service product, while preventing and minimizing the risks and the negative effects, ensuring the safety for the individuals and the enterprises, thereby enhancing financial inclusion in Vietnam.
Le Hang