In Vietnam until now, there have been 18 legal documents related to the management of virtual assets (VA) and virtual asset service providers (VASP), the most prominent of which is Decision No.194/QD-TTg, issued on February 23, 2024 by the Prime Minister, about the national action plan for the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to prevent and control money laundering, terrorist financing, and mass destruction weapon financing. This will help erase Vietnam from the ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Chief Inspector of Supervision Do Viet Cuong of the Vietnam State Bank – Thua Thien-Hue Province Branch stated that being in the grey list severely harms Vietnam as to finance matters, investment attraction, and global economic cooperation.
“When being in the grey list, Vietnam endures higher transaction fees because international financial organizations have to increase their monitoring over transactions made in Vietnam. Approaching capital sources is also more challenging as global financial organizations usually limit their loans or investments in Vietnam. Particularly, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), each country in the grey list is at risk of losing about 7.6 percent of its GDP,” informed Mr. Cuong.
Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain Association Phan Duc Trung commented that the introduction of a complete and suitable policy for the management of VA-VASP at this time is rather difficult as it requires collaboration from different industries and fields.
He added that in the near future, the Vietnam Blockchain Association is going to actively work with relevant ministries, state agencies to form a foundation for the development of a legal frame to manage VA to prevent money laundering.
