Central bank to strengthen anti-money laundering efforts with new department

The establishment is part of the amendments to the functions, missions, authority and organisational structure of the SBV, issued by the Government as Decree 146 on November 6.

Previously, the department was only a unit under the SBV’s Banking Supervision Agency, tasked with assisting the chief inspector in combating money laundering, in accordance with the provisions of law and international commitments in this area that Vietnam took part in.

Following the decree, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh on November 6 issued a new decision amending the cooperation mechanism against money laundering and terrorist financing between ministries and State agencies.

Decision 1338 supplements the responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Information and Communication, on guiding the agencies under their management to comply with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.

Regarding structural changes in the SBV, the two Forecasting and Statistics and Monetary and Financial Stabilisation Departments will be merged into one, called the Department of Forecasting, Statistics and Monetary and Financial Stabilisation.

A new Department of Banking Inspection and Supervision will also be added under the SBV’s Banking Supervision Agency.

According to Decree 146, the Banking Supervision Agency will no longer perform the anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing duties that it had been tasked with since 2014.