The National Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee works with VNBA: Aligning legislation with market realities to refine the banking legal framework

From the National Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee: Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Mai (Vice Chairwoman of the Committee, Head of the Delegation), alongside full-time National Assembly delegates (Mr. Ta Le Thanh, Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam), and leadership from the specialized Department.

From VNBA and Member Organizations: Dr. Dao Minh Tu (Vice President and Secretary General of VNBA), Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Hoai (Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the Banking Legal Club), along with senior representatives from Vietcombank, BIDV, Techcombank, VPBank, the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), and leaders of VNBA’s standing committees.

Opening the session, Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan (Head of VNBA’s Legal and Professional Department) presented a comprehensive overview. She noted that while member banks have strictly aligned with Government and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) policies to maintain macroeconomic stability, they are currently facing significant headwinds. These include narrowing Net Interest Margins (NIM), rising non-performing loans (NPLs), and persistent legal bottlenecks in handling collateral. VNBA recommended a stronger coordination of fiscal and monetary policies, accelerated public investment disbursement to ease system liquidity, and targeted solutions to untie legal knots regarding real estate and land collateral.

Translating these practical issues into legal solutions, Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Hoai (Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the Banking Legal Club) reported that VNBA had synthesized 32 core recommendations for draft laws. Key proposals include reviewing foreign exchange management (under the Law on the SBV); clarifying the definitions of beneficial owners and crypto-assets (under the Law on Anti-Money Laundering - AML); and revising credit limits, related parties, and mechanisms for collateral seizure (under the Law on Credit Institutions).

Providing deeper insights from an operational standpoint, representatives from major banks and VAMC directly shared their proposals:

Vietcombank: Recommended refining regulations on disclosing customer information to authorities, clarifying the opposing effect of security measures against state agencies, and developing a centralized lookup system for land-use rights security transactions.

VAMC: Proposed utilizing expedited procedures for credit contract disputes, allowing the transfer of real estate projects held as collateral for debt resolution, and institutionalizing key mechanisms of Resolution 42 into statutory law to cultivate the debt trading market.

BIDV: Suggested expanding the operational scope of collateral management agencies, creating a proper legal framework for bondholder representatives, clarifying the boundaries of bank advisory services, and tightening AML regulations regarding crypto-assets and beneficial ownership.

In response to these field-level insights, full-time National Assembly delegates Mr. Ta Le Thanh and Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam actively discussed and officially recorded all the practical bottlenecks currently burdening the banking system.

Forward-Looking Policy Refinement and Commitments

In his closing remarks, Dr. Dao Minh Tu (Vice President and Secretary General of VNBA) highly praised the Committee’s proactive approach in listening to real-world feedback. He emphasized that regulatory bodies must continue to perfect the legal frameworks governing foreign exchange, AML coordination mechanisms, legal corridors for international financial centers, and the structural relationship between the capital and money markets. He tasked VNBA’s specialized departments to keep refining recommendations based on the session's insights.

On behalf of the reviewing authority, Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Mai (Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee) expressed high appreciation for the practical value of VNBA's contributions. She affirmed that the working session aimed to capture insights "early and from afar," ensuring that draft laws successfully meet regulatory demands amidst rapid market shifts and the rise of digital and crypto-assets. The Committee pledged to continue its close partnership with VNBA and credit institutions to ensure the revised regulations achieve the highest possible feasibility upon taking effect.

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