1. Foreign nationals are not eligible to deposit savings.
This is new content stipulated in Circular 48/2018/TT-NHNN regulating savings deposits.
Accordingly, those who deposit savings include the following groups:
– Vietnamese citizens aged 18 and above have full legal capacity as prescribed by law.
– Vietnamese citizens aged 15 to under 18 years old who are not restricted in their civil capacity or have not lost their civil capacity according to the provisions of law.
– Vietnamese citizens with limited or no legal capacity as stipulated by law, or those under 15 years of age, may conduct savings deposit transactions through their legal representatives.
– Vietnamese citizens who have difficulties in understanding and controlling their behavior according to the law may conduct savings deposit transactions through a guardian.
Compared to current regulations, the対象 of depositing savings under Circular 48 no longer includes foreign individuals legally residing and working in Vietnam.
Circular 48/2018/TT-NHNN takes effect from July 5, 2019 and replaces Decision 1160/2004/QD-NHNN dated September 13, 2004.
2. The deposit period for savings by foreigners must not exceed the validity period of their visa.
This content is addressed in Circular 49/2018/TT-NHNN regulating time deposits.
Accordingly, the deposit period for foreign individuals who are residents (or non-residents) must not exceed the remaining validity period of the following identity verification documents:
Visas or other documents specifying the permitted period of residence in Vietnam, issued by competent Vietnamese authorities, must still be valid.
Circular 49/2018/TT-NHNN came into effect on July 5, 2019.
3. Internet banking applications must not have a feature to remember access codes.
This is a new point in Circular 35/2018/TT-NHNN amending Circular 35/2016/TT-NHNN regulating safety and security for providing banking services on the Internet, effective July 1, 2019.
Accordingly, the Internet Banking application software on mobile devices has undergone the following changes:
– User authentication is required upon access, and there is no feature to remember access codes (current regulations only require user authentication upon access).
– If the number of consecutive failed authentication attempts exceeds the limit set by the organization, the application software must automatically temporarily lock the user, preventing further use (the current regulation prohibits more than 05 consecutive failed authentication attempts).
4. Guidance on the "professional nature" aspect in money laundering offenses.
On May 24, 2019, the Supreme People's Court's Judicial Council issued Resolution 03/2019/NQ-HĐTP guiding the application of Article 324 of the Penal Code on the crime of money laundering.
Accordingly, the crime of professional money laundering as stipulated in point d, clause 2, Article 324 of the Penal Code is guided as follows:
The offender must meet two criteria:
– Committing money laundering acts five or more times.
Regardless of whether a criminal case has been prosecuted or not, if the statute of limitations for prosecution has not expired or the criminal record has not been expunged.
– Using illicit profits obtained from money laundering as a source of income.
Resolution 03/2019/NQ-HĐTP takes effect from July 7, 2019.
