On September 23, 2022, in Hanoi, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) held a Conference under the chairmanship of SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha on dissemination of the regulations on cross-border payment and money transfers in hybrid (both online and offline) format.
SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha speaks at the Conference.
The Conferene was also attended by representatives from the SBV’s entities, the SBV Provincial and Municipal Branches, Vietnam Banking Association, the credit institutions and the foreign bank branches, etc.
The objectives of the Conference were to: (i) Disseminate information to and make sure that bank leaders understand deeply about the spirit in the SBV's directions for the management of cross-border payment and money transfers; be fully aware of the applicable provisions of the law; strengthen the anti-money laundering during the implementation; (ii) The Banking Supervision Agency, the SBV Provincial and Municipal Branches are requested to strengthen the supervision and inspection of cross-border payment and money transfers; the purchases, transfers and carriage overseas of foreign currencies, promptly detecting any violations; (iii) The SBV entities (the Foreign Exchange Management Department, the Monetary Policy Department, the Payment Department, etc.) were requested to take note of all comments, feedbacks, and continue to carefully review the applicable provisions of the law, amend and improve the legal documents in order to create a more effective legal corridor, ensuring the stability of the foreign currency market and the macro-economy.
In his opening speech, SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha said that, during the 8 months of 2022, the global economy had experienced complicated developments, posing a lot of risks. The hiking global inflation and the tightening of the monetary policy had placed very big pressure on the monetary policy management in the emerging economies (including Vietnam). In this context, the SBV had operated the monetary policy in a prudent and flexible manner, in close coordination with the interest rate policy and the credit growth management at a reasonable level in order to support the economic recovery, but still paying attention to the inflation risks; directed credit to focus on production and business operations; strictly controlled credit for potentially risky areas; managed the exchange rate in a flexible manner, with timely interventions through selling foreign currencies to absorb the external shocks and restrict the inflation growth. In the coming months, the world economy and financial situation are expected to become more complicated and unpredictable, posing big challenges for the SBV’s monetary policy management in order to implement the tasks of controlling the inflation, maintaining the macro-economic stability, and supporting the economic recovery.
SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha chaired the Conference.
At the Conference, leaders from the SBV entities made presentations on the regulations on the cross-border payment and money transfers, the purchases, transfers and carriage overseas of foreign currencies; the anti-money laundering, the common violations of organizations and individuals in the international payment activities, as well as the measures to prevent and handle with these violations; the practical situation of the foreign exchange management in the provinces, focusing on the management of cross-border payment and money transfers by the credit institutions. The participants also made recommendations and proposals to the SBV, while representatives of the credit insitutions also provided several feedbacks on the banks’ implementation under the directions of the SBV, etc.
Overview of the Conference.
In his closing remarks, SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha emphasized that the operations of payment, money transfers and foreign exchange market play an important role in the management of the SBV. Generally, the credit institutions have understood very well their responsibilities in implementing the provisions of the law. The representatives of the Foreign Exchange Management Department and the Banking Superivion Agency had provided very specific instructions and guidance for the issues raised by the credit institutions at the Conference.
The Deputy Governor also requested the functional entities under the SBV to further advise and propose to the SBV’s Management Board to revise and improve the policy; urgently finalize and issue a Circular guiding the operation of one-way money transfers from Vietnam to foreign countries, and the payment and transfers of money for other current transactions by residents in Vietnam, including both organizations and individuals. About the implementation process, the Deputy Governor requested the Banking Supervision Agency, the SBV Provincial and Municipal Branches to strengthen the supervision and inspection of cross-border payment and money transfers; the purchases, transfers and carriage overseas of foreign currencies, promptly detecting any violations. The Deputy Governor further requested the credit institutions to strictly comply with the applicable regulations on foreign exchange management, improve the discipline and standards of the foreign exchange market towards the common goal of maintaining the stability of the exchange rate and the foreign currency market, contributing to the macro-economic stability and the inflation control, and supporting the process of socio-economic recovery and development.
LK