VietNam: Money laundering not found in transactions

VietNamNet Bridge – The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s money-laundering watchdog said it has not found any signs of money laundering in banking transactions since its inception in March 2007.

At an anti-money laundering seminar in Hanoi on July 25, Pham Mai Phuong from the SBV’s anti-money laundering centre reported it had investigated 20 transactions suspected of laundering money but found no trace of the crime in those activities.

However, she alerted that the country would deal with the crime in a more sophisticated manner in the future as its World Trade Organisation membership provides a fertile ground for this activity.

Vietnam has adopted regulations mandating the fight against money laundering, notably Article 251 of the 1999 Penal Code, Article 19 of the 1997 Law on Credit Organisations and the Governmental decree on the combat of money laundering issued in 2005.

Advisor to the Vietnam-based UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ric Power, said Vietnamese law enforcement agencies have not yet interpreted the regulations into their operations and thus failed to perform effectively in the fight against the laundering of money.

While hailing the establishment of the SBV’s anti-money laundering centre, the UNODC official recommended the nationwide deployment of measures to combat money laundering in line with international standards.

He outlined the need to formulate an anti-money laundering system to aid the fight against corruption and crime, thus giving safeguards to international financial institutions in Vietnam and solidifying investors’ confidence on the country.

The UNODC has to date helped concerned Vietnamese agencies to improve their working capability and build the anti-money laundering system.

In November, experts of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) will come to Vietnam to enquire into and assess the country’s anti-money laundering activities.

According to the anti-money laundering decree issued by the Government in June, 2005, financial institutions are obligated to report to the SBV’s anti-money laundering centre of suspicious transactions, deals in cash or foreign currencies and gold worth more than 200 million VND and saving deposits of 500 million VND upward for investigations on money laundering.

Source: VNA