The Dialogue was attended by the ASEAN Central Bank Governors, the President of the ASEAN Banking Association, representatives of the Banking Associations of ASEAN member countries and international financial institutions.
Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Ngoc Canh; Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Banking Association Nguyen Quoc Hung attended.
The content of the dialogue revolved around the following topics: (i) Update on the Nexus Project; (ii) Financial fraud and scams; and (iii) Update on the Asean Interoperability Data Framework Handbook.
At this session, the Governors/Deputy Governors of ASEAN Central Banks were very interested and focused on exchanging and discussing with CEOs of financial institutions on the topic of preventing and responding to financial fraud and scams. According to the delegates, in the context of strong digital transformation taking place globally and in the ASEAN region, the digital economy is bringing many opportunities but at the same time increasing the risks of financial fraud. Forms of digital fraud are increasingly sophisticated, especially through social networks, e-commerce platforms, SMS messages and OTT messaging applications. According to estimates by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, the Asian region will lose 688.4 billion USD due to financial fraud in 2024. Moreover, it also negatively affects people's trust in the digital payment system and the development of a sustainable digital economy. To prevent and respond to financial fraud, many banks in the ASEAN region have implemented customer protection measures such as applying real-time transaction monitoring systems to detect unusual behaviors, increasing warnings and educating customers about fraud risks, but the effectiveness is still limited. In this context, delegates said that a more comprehensive approach is needed, which is to build an “anti-fraud ecosystem” instead of relying solely on banks and law enforcement agencies. In addition to banks, stakeholders such as telecommunications companies, social media platforms, e-commerce platforms, device manufacturers and operating systems are all obliged to protect digital systems from criminal abuse.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh shared that in Vietnam, the volume and value of digital transactions continue to grow at double-digit rates every year, but this is accompanied by increasing risks and challenges. Fraudsters are increasingly taking advantage of technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), to carry out sophisticated fraud schemes, undermining customer confidence and threatening the stability of the financial system. The Deputy Governor affirmed that financial fraud and scams are complex and cross-border issues, requiring increased regional cooperation to jointly handle them.
VNBA delegation
Previously, within the framework of the working trip to attend the ASEAN Summit series in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 8, 2025, the Vietnam Banking Association delegation also attended the discussion session "Promoting ASEAN financial integration: Promoting trade and investment".
In this session, the speakers discussed the Local Currency Transaction Framework, which is a system or regulation that allows trade and investment transactions to be conducted in local currency (e.g. using Malaysian Ringgit – RM instead of foreign currency (such as USD or EUR) to reduce exchange rate risk, avoid losses due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations; support the local economy by increasing demand for local currency; facilitate international transactions (e.g. Malaysia and China can transact directly in RM/RMB, without having to convert to USD first). In Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and central banks of countries (such as Indonesia, Thailand, China) have transacted directly in local currency.
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