The State Bank of Vietnam has officially issued Circular 09/2023/TT-NHNN, a guiding document for the implementation of specific regulations in the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

This new circular sets out clear regulations on the criteria and methods for assessing money laundering risks at reporting entities; risk control procedures related to money laundering and customer classification based on risk levels; internal regulations for money laundering prevention; as well as reporting requirements for large transactions, suspicious transactions, and electronic funds transfers.

Specifically, this circular details the regulations related to electronic funds transfers as follows:

1. Regarding financial institutions involved in electronic funds transfers:
   • The initiating financial institution is the entity that issues the electronic funds transfer order and executes the transfer on behalf of the issuer;
   • The intermediary financial institution is the entity that receives and forwards the electronic funds transfer order from the initiating institution or from another intermediary financial institution;
   • The beneficiary financial institution is the entity that receives the electronic funds transfer order directly from the initiating institution or through an intermediary institution and disburses the funds to the beneficiary.
2. Domestic financial institutions participating in electronic funds transfers must:
   • For initiating institutions: Only conduct transactions when information about the electronic funds transfer order is complete and accurate in accordance with the laws on non-cash payments and foreign exchange management;
   • For intermediary and beneficiary institutions: Measures must be in place to identify incomplete or inaccurate electronic funds transfer information and to apply appropriate handling measures such as refusal, suspension of transactions, post-transaction control measures, or review and reporting of suspicious transactions.
3. Reporting requirements:
   • Domestic electronic funds transfers valued at 500 million VND or more;
   • International electronic funds transfers valued at 1,000 USD or more, or the equivalent value in other foreign currencies.