As part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) supported Technical Assistance Project for the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) aimed at developing and implementing a risk-based anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) Supervisory Toolkit (the Toolkit), the SBV, in collaboration with the IMF experts, held two seminars on 13 February 2025 to introduce the Toolkit. These were the activities during the fourth on-site working session between the SBV and the IMF experts.
An overview of the Seminar
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The first Seminar was dedicated to the SBV and other relevant state regulatory agencies in the field of AML/CFT, with nearly 50 participants coming from the Banking Supervision Agency (BSA) of the SBV and the Inspectorates of the relevant Ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the Ministry of Construction. Additionally, representatives of the BSA's 63 provincial and municipal branches also joined the Seminar virtually.
The second Seminar was for the reporting entities, which are the credit institutions and the foreign bank branches operating in Vietnam, with approximately 130 participants.
As the lead agency for AML/CFT in Vietnam, the SBV has made strong efforts in improving the knowledge of, and through the technical assistance from the international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the area of risk-based AML/CFT supervision and inspection. Through those efforts, the SBV has emerged as a pioneer in implementing the risk-based AML/CFT supervision and inspection in Vietnam.
The participants takes a picture together
Over the past two years, as part of the Technical Assistance Project, officials from the SBV’s Banking Supervision Agency (BSA) and the Department for Anti-Money Laundering have collaborated with the IMF experts to study and develop the risk-based AML/CFT Supervisory Toolkit, and also received guidance and training on how to use the Toolkit. Following the initial completion of the Toolkit, the SBV had requested 100 banks and foreign bank branches in Vietnam to provide the relevant information. By now, the SBV has basically completed the ratings based on the risk assessment of the reporting entities.
The organisation of the two Seminars introducing the Toolkit to the relevant entities was the next step in implementing the IMF Technical Assistance Project. Based on the presentations and guidance from the SBV and the IMF experts, the representatives coming from the regulatory agencies and the reporting entities also shared about their experience in using the Toolkit, and raised questions regarding the outstanding issues, aiming to achieve a common understanding and consistent application of the Toolkit, thereby ensuring the effectiveness of its implementation.
The IMF experts commended the SBV’s efforts in the joint process of developing and implementing the Toolkit, and also emphasised that the prompt reporting by the commercial banks and the foreign bank branches in Vietnam, as requested by the SBV, as well as their active participation in the Seminar, was highly commendable. This would be a solid foundation for the effective implementation of the risk-based AML/CFT supervision and inspection in Vietnam in the future.
HP