VNBA's Policy Committee meets to deploy 2025 action program

Attending the meeting were Mr. Tran Phuong - Chairman of the Policy Committee, Deputy General Director of BIDV, and members of the Policy Committee.

At the meeting, Mr. Tran Phuong, Chairman of the Policy Committee, said that in the past year, the Policy Committee has actively advised the Association Council, as well as supported the Association Standing Body in resolving urgent issues, regarding mechanisms and policies related to the operations of credit institutions.

Reporting on the 2024 performance results, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Head of the Policy Committee's Working Group, said that in 2024, the Policy Committee has actively and proactively implemented programs and work plans, advised the Banking Association Council, and recommended to competent authorities key and outstanding issues regarding mechanisms and policies that are close to the reality and development orientation of member organizations. Thereby, the Policy Committee has promoted its role, contributing to helping the Vietnam Banking Association enhance its position, image, and reputation, which has been highly appreciated by the National Assembly, the Government, and ministries and branches.

From the beginning of 2024, the Committee has completed and issued the 2023 Summary Report, and at the same time determined the direction and program of activities for 2024. From January 29, 2024, the Committee successfully organized a meeting to deploy the 2024 program of activities, with a work plan already developed.

In addition, the Committee has also actively coordinated with the Standing Office of the VNBA to participate in giving opinions on the development of mechanisms, policies, and important legal documents that have a great impact on banking activities, thereby contributing to perfecting the legal framework, creating favorable conditions for banking activities.
In particular, the documents for the Committee's comments are draft Laws and Decrees related to banking activities such as: Law on Credit Institutions (amended), Decree on Land Law, Housing Law, Decree on electronic signatures and trust services, etc.; Circulars drafted by the State Bank, including Circulars regulating letter of credit operations, capital contribution limits of credit institutions, payment services, and other regulations. In addition, the Committee also successfully coordinated the organization of many Conferences and Workshops, attracting the participation of experts, state agencies, and international organizations. These programs focus on issues of concern to the entire banking system, such as: Conference on consumer lending and debt collection; Conference on the impact of the Land Law and Housing Law on banking activities; Conference on safety and security solutions in online payments.

In particular, the Committee also sent representatives to participate and speak at seminars and workshops, such as: Seminar on "Bad debt handling - Current situation and solutions"; Conference on information technology risk management; Seminar on perfecting the mechanism for enforcing civil judgments in the enforcement of bank credit judgments.

Regarding the development of the Special Report, the Committee also researched and developed a special report on legal issues in the provision of payment intermediary services, in which it pointed out the difficulties of banks and proposed solutions to overcome them.

Although the Committee has achieved many positive results, there are still some limitations. Because some members of the Committee and the Working Group have not been able to devote enough time to the work of the Committee, it has affected the effectiveness of the work.

In 2025, the Policy Committee will continue to act as an advisory and consulting unit for the Banking Association Council and support the Association's Standing Body in handling major, in-depth issues on mechanisms and policies related to banking activities. The goal is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of member organizations. Based on the assessment of the 2024 performance results, the Committee will guide and advise the Association Council.

Specifically, the Committee will continue to contribute opinions on draft legal documents related to the banking sector, including: Draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Credit Institutions (legislating the content of Resolution 42/2017/QH14 on handling bad debts); Draft Law on E-commerce (new); Draft Law on Bankruptcy (amended), Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement (amended), Law on Enterprises (amended); Draft Law on Personal Data Protection; Draft Decree on controlled testing mechanism (sandbox) for financial technology activities in the banking sector; ... In addition, it will contribute opinions on draft Circulars of the State Bank related to banking operations, such as: Guidelines on foreign exchange management and overseas lending (amending Circular 45/2011/TT-NHNN); Amending Circular 13/2018/TT-NHNN on internal control in commercial banks and foreign bank branches; New regulations replacing Circular 28/2014/TT-NHNN on opening and using foreign currency accounts abroad; Regulations on capital adequacy ratio; Amending and supplementing Circular 04/2013/TT-NHNN on discounting of negotiable instruments and valuable papers. In addition, it will recommend that the State Bank and relevant ministries and branches review and adjust legal inadequacies in the provision of intermediary payment services... At the conference, representatives of the Policy Committee members from Vietcombank, Agribank, Techcombank, Standard Chartered, VPBank, FE Credit... all agreed with the report contents and operational directions in 2025 of the Policy Committee, and at the same time raised the difficulties, obstacles and inadequacies that credit institutions will encounter in 2024. At the same time, it is recommended that in 2025, the Committee continue to focus on prioritizing major topics such as: policy framework related to green finance (classification of green credit portfolios; ESG regulations, carbon credits, providing common and unified views in transactions with foreign financial institutions; promulgating a framework of goods and services that meet green credit lending standards...); digital assets, regulations on cryptocurrencies, a set of rules on personal data; Check documents for corporate customers…

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Banking Association, acknowledged and highly appreciated the work results of the Policy Committee, especially the spirit of drastic work, innovation, professionalism, and methodical content with many practical contents, thereby contributing to the overall achievements in the operations of credit institutions and being highly appreciated by the State Bank of Vietnam, ministries and branches.
Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung suggested that the Policy Committee continue to promote its role, operate effectively and have harmonious and close coordination with the Technology Committee, the Legal Club, the Fintech Club, the Consumer Finance Club... to unify all contents of policy mechanisms, participate in giving opinions and criticism, thereby actively and effectively contributing to the process of perfecting the legal corridor for banking activities, while also protecting the rights and legitimate interests of member organizations of the Vietnam Banks Association.
Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung also suggested that the Policy Committee refer to good models and new approaches not only domestically but also regionally and internationally, to find suitable directions and draw lessons from experience in participating in policy mechanisms for the future operations of the Vietnam Banking Association. The Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Banking Association also agreed with the Policy Committee's report on the results of operations in 2024 and the plan for 2025, and suggested some specific contents to be implemented in 2025 such as policies related to digital transformation, green transformation in the context of building a financial center; related to the Law on Personal Data Protection; or a common unified process for all member banks from money transfer to lending...
The Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Banking Association affirmed that the Association Council and the Standing Office of the Vietnam Banking Association always accompany, support and are ready to coordinate with the Policy Committee in implementing the assigned tasks.
At the end of the conference, Mr. Tran Phuong, Chairman of the Policy Committee, said that he would accept the guidance from Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung as well as additional comments from the members of the Committee to perfect the direction and implement the tasks in 2025.
With the motto "Proactive, practical, timely, effective", the 2025 work program of the Policy Committee will have some key contents such as: Building a common convention system for the market (including a handbook, a unified set of templates to help member organizations deploy synchronous services, reduce differences between banks, improve customer experience and save resources). In the immediate future, choose to develop 2 sets of handbooks/manuals in 2025, with 1st set of handbooks expected to be completed in the first 6 months of the year and 2nd set completed by the end of 2025; Continue to propose amendments and improvements to the legal framework, especially the legalization of regulations on handling secured assets and bad debts (Resolution No. 42/2017/QH14), and remove obstacles in payment intermediary services. At the same time, participate in developing a policy framework to support green financial development, especially in the field of green bond issuance, based on practical experience from banks. These orientations will help the Policy Committee continue to affirm its role as a core force in policy advice, accompanying the sustainable development of the banking system.

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