VNBA held a meeting to deploy the action plan of the Risk Committee

This is an important first step after the Association's 2025 Annual Meeting passed Resolution No. 181/NQ-HDHH on the establishment of the Risk Committee and Decision No. 32/QD-HHNH dated May 21, 2025 on the organization and operation regulations of the Committee.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung said that based on proposals from member banks, the Association Council selected 13 credit institutions with prestige, capacity and diverse scope of operations to participate in the Risk Committee. The establishment of the Committee received support and active participation from member credit institutions, demonstrating a correct understanding of the essential role of risk management in the new development stage of the financial - banking system.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung highly appreciated the spirit of active and serious participation of the banks. This shows that the role and significance of the Risk Committee have been properly recognized. This will be the foundation for the Committee to soon deploy practical and effective activities in the coming time.

At the meeting, representatives of member credit institutions all affirmed the need to build an organized and focused coordination mechanism to handle systemic risk issues. In the context that many initiatives for sharing data and analyzing risks have been formed but lack proper coordination, the establishment of the Risk Committee is a step in the right direction, meeting the practical needs of credit institutions.

Representatives of member credit institutions agreed to propose three key groups of tasks for the Risk Committee, including: Sharing information and risk data; Training and improving professional capacity; Policy review and recommendations to management agencies.

In addition, opinions suggest that the Risk Committee should have an open and flexible structure, and can establish specialized groups on technology, data, law, etc. to handle specific contents in depth. Participation in the Committee must be accompanied by clear responsibilities and real commitments to ensure operational efficiency.

Another issue that many credit institutions are concerned about is the risk from fraudulent behavior, especially in the context of fragmented data. Credit institutions emphasize that sharing information on customers with fraudulent behavior between banks will help the entire system prevent more effectively. However, this requires appropriate mechanisms on law, human rights and personal data protection. The Banking Association is proposed to play a coordinating role in building a shared data warehouse to store, look up and warn about risky behaviors. Because according to the representative of MB bank, an incident related to legal risks can affect the entire system if there is no early warning. When a bank is at risk due to a court ruling, other institutions should be notified to proactively review and take precautions.

At the meeting, VietinBank representative emphasized the significance of establishing the Committee to deploy topics of sharing information, policies, data, fraud behaviors, common tricks, as well as organizing in-depth training in the field of risk management. Meanwhile, Agribank representative proposed that the Risk Committee should introduce more international practices and new concepts in the field of risk management so that banks can refer to and apply, contributing to minimizing risks arising in operations. Vietcombank representative proposed to establish a mechanism of Chairman and Vice Chairmen rotating with a term of 2.5 years, and at the same time proposed that the Risk Committee have the additional function of sharing the current status of fraud issues occurring at each member bank.

TPBank representative commented that the establishment of the Committee is the result of the active activities of the Association and professional clubs. However, to truly promote its role, the Committee needs to position itself as a systemic institution, supporting even small banks with limited risk management resources.

TPBank representative proposed 4 "core missions" for the Committee, including: (1) Reviewing policies, participating in giving comments on legal documents such as Circulars 41, 13, 22...; (2) Narrowing the capacity gap between banks, promoting experience sharing, supporting training; (3) Handling urgent professional issues such as ESG risks, population data, cyber risks, especially the impact of the IRB framework on capital adequacy ratio; (4) Sharing risk data, forming a warning mechanism for ethical risks, operational risks, and staff violations, etc.

TPBank representative also proposed that after the Risk Committee is officially launched, the first forum will be held, with the theme "Impact of the transition from Circular 41 to IRB in calculating capital adequacy", with the goal of creating a clear professional mark for the activities of the Risk Committee.

At the meeting, a representative of Standard Chartered Bank said that although the scope of operations in Vietnam is still limited, the bank is willing to share international experience in risk handling, especially in compliance with regulations from central banks of developed countries. Inviting international experts to participate in the discussion is expected to bring multi-dimensional perspectives and important reference values.

Concluding the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung highly appreciated the opinions given by representatives of the banks. The Vice Chairman and General Secretary said that the Risk Committee will be supplemented with representatives of leaders of other clubs and professional committees of the Vietnam Banking Association (such as the Card Association, the Banking Legal Club, etc.), in order to enhance coordination in handling related issues. The Banking Association will send the list of Committee members back to member banks for updating.

For the first term, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung suggested that the positions of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Committee will be held by representatives of 4 commercial banks with State capital, based on their proven experience and professional capacity.

Vice Chairman and General Secretary Nguyen Quoc Hung hopes that the Risk Committee will become a common forum for credit institutions to share experiences and coordinate in risk prevention, management and containment, thereby providing practical and effective support for the activities of members.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung also emphasized the importance of communication in risk prevention, especially communication to consumers, not only within credit institutions. Sharing timely and transparent warnings not only protects the reputation of credit institutions in particular and the banking industry in general, but is also a responsibility to customers and society as a whole.

T.Đ