On July 28, 2023, the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam promulgated a Circular for the Implementation of articles of the Law on the Prevention and Combat of Money Laundering. The Circular applies to financial institutions, organizations, and individuals involved in related non-financial business lines. It also pertains to Vietnamese organizations and individuals, foreign organizations, foreigners, and international organizations engaged in related non-financial business lines. Furthermore, it covers other organizations and individuals participating in the prevention and combat of money laundering.

The program’s key pillars encompass the following:
• Establishing criteria for assessing money laundering risks in Vietnam, including the consideration of the business sector and the location (country or territory) of the transaction.
• Implementing a scoring system ranging from 1 to 5 to evaluate the money laundering risk associated with transactions.
• Developing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures that are suitable for the operational scale and scope of each firm.
• Conducting AML assessments of customers based on different risk levels.
• Enhancing the monitoring of transactions and ensuring frequent updates to customer identification information.
• Mandating reporting on electronic funds transfers, including specifying thresholds for both domestic and international transfers.
• Enforcing other AML compliance requirements.