As a member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), Vietnam has sent an inter-agency Delegation headed by SBV Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung and comprising of representatives from the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the Ministry of National Defence (MND), the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Government Office (GO), and the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) to attend the 27th APG Annual Meeting in Tokyo, Japan.
The 27th APG Annual Meeting is co-chaired by Mr. Mitsutoshi (Toshi) Kajikawa, Deputy Vice Minister for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance of Japan, and Commissioner Ian McCartney of the Australian Federal Police, with the participation of over 300 delegates from the member jurisdictions and observers, as well as the President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and representatives of several international organisations such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs).
The Vietnamese delegation takes a commemorative photo with the FATF President
and the APG Chair
On 25–26 August 2025, the technical sessions were held under the facilitation of the Multilateral Evaluation Committee to review and discuss the Mutual Evaluation Reports and the Follow-Up Reports (including Viet Nam’s). Concurrently, other technical sessions facilitated by the Operations Committee were held to review the trends and typologies relating to money laundering and terrorist financing.
From 27–29 August 2025, the plenary sessions were conducted under the co-chairmanship of the two APG Co-Chairs to discuss and decide on the matters related to the APG membership and observer status, the governance, operational and budgetary issues, and the mutual evaluations. The Meeting adopted the Mutual Evaluation Reports of several jurisdictions, discussed the key success factors of the 5th round of the global evaluations, endorsed the APG Co-Chairs’ priority objectives for 2024–2026, and adopted the mutual evaluation programme for 2026–2028. Updates were also provided on the APG’s new technical assistance programmes and projects, long-term resource plans for 2026–2028, and the financial results for 2024–2026. The Meeting adopted and congratulated Brunei Darussalam, which will succeed Japan, on assuming the rotating Co-Chair of the APG for a 2-year term, along side with Australia, from September 2026.
According to the established plan, after the 2025 Annual Meeting, the APG will launch its 4th round of mutual evaluations under a revised process and methodology. Three mutual evaluation reports of Malaysia, Canada and Singapore are expected to be adopted at the 2026 Annual Meeting. For Viet Nam, the APG is also planning to conduct its 3rd round of mutual evaluations of the country’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing regime in 2027.
Together with the other APG members, the Vietnamese delegation actively participated in the Multilateral Evaluation Committee’s sessions, in which the Delegation delivered a presentation about Viet Nam’s progress in strengthening the independence and autonomy of its Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in line with the FATF Recommendation 29.
The delegation also joined the plenary discussions, votings, and deliberations on issues relevant to Viet Nam, including the plenary adoption of Viet Nam’s enhanced follow-up report, the meetings with the donor partners, the South-East Asia regional meeting, and a thematic workshop on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VA/VASPs).
In preparation for the 2027 APG mutual evaluations, the delegation also held bilateral meetings with the FIUs from Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines to exchange experiences in preparing for the evaluations.
Also on the side of the Annual Meeting, there was a signing ceremony for the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on information exchange in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing between Viet Nam’s Anti-Money Laundering Department and the FIUs of Nauru, Nepal and Timor-Leste. The signing was witnessed by Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dzung and representatives from the relevant agencies of the participating countries. These MoUs not only enhance the cooperation between Viet Nam’s Anti-Money Laundering Department and the foreign FIUs, but also mark an important step in reinforcing the Department’s independence and autonomy as Viet Nam’s FIU.
The Signing Ceremony of the MOU between the Anti-Money Laundering Department and the FIU of Nepal at the 2025 APG Annual Meeting
The presence of the Vietnamese delegation at the 2025 APG Annual Meeting demonstrates Viet Nam’s strong commitment to complying with the international standards on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. It also provides an opportunity to strengthen the country’s international standing, broaden the cooperation, and gain practical experience for the upcoming mutual evaluations.
Viet Nam has pledged to implement the Action Plan required by the FATF when it was placed on the FATF’s Grey List. Accordingly, Viet Nam must report every four months to the FATF/APG on the progress made in implementing 17 FATF-prescribed actions. Vietnamese ministries and agencies are currently striving to fulfil this Action Plan, thereby contributing to strengthening the effectiveness of the country’s AML/CFT/CPF framework. The FATF Action Plan comprises a range of difficult and complex tasks. This requires Viet Nam’s Ministries and agencies to implement synchronised and comprehensive measures across multiple areas, including: (i) further improving the legal framework on the criminalisation of money laundering, the preventive AML/CFT measures, beneficial ownership, and regulation of virtual assets and VASPs; (ii) strengthening risk understanding, domestic and international cooperation in AML/CFT/CPF; (iii) enhancing the risk-based investigation, prosecution and adjudication of money laundering and predicate offences; (iv) reinforcing the risk-based inspection and supervision activities; (v) strengthening the independence and autonomy of the FIU, while improving the quality of financial intelligence; (vi) enhancing the effectiveness in preventing the evasion of targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation financing. |
HM