NA Standing Committee reviews central bank, anti-money laundering bills

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on July 14 reviewed the draft Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the Law on Anti-Money Laundering, and the Law on Credit Organisations, with the proposed legislation set to be submitted to the 16th NA’s first extraordinary session under an expedited legislative process.

NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man presided over the session, with SBV Governor Pham Duc An presenting the Government’s proposal.

According to the proposal, the SBV law amendments would codify existing foreign exchange rules by incorporating Article 22 of the Foreign Exchange Ordinance into law. The draft also revises the central bank’s special financial mechanism, shifting authority over its financial management regulations from the Prime Minister to the Government.

Further changes amend or repeal rules governing the organisation and powers of the banking inspection and supervision agency, while authorising the SBV to impose safety ratios that deviate from statutory requirements for supervised entities.

On anti-money laundering, the bill revises the definition of “beneficial owner” and brings virtual asset service providers into the reporting regime. It introduces suspicious transaction indicators for virtual asset activities and assigns the Ministry of Finance responsibility for anti-money laundering supervision, inspection and oversight of reporting entities in the digital asset sector.

The NA Economic and Financial Committee backed the need for the legislation, urging the drafting body to refine the bill for consistency with Party policies, the Constitution, existing laws and international commitments, and calling for a thorough assessment of resources and enforcement conditions.

Following discussions, the Standing Committee concluded that the amendments are necessary to swiftly convert Party policies and guidelines into the law, shore up the legal framework for monetary and banking operations, fix enforcement shortcomings and close gaps in Vietnam’s anti-money laundering regime to meet international assessment standards.

Regarding the scope of the amendments, the committee asked the Government to further evaluate the bill's impact and clearly separate provisions requiring immediate revision from those needing more review. Priority, lawmakers said, should go to urgent issues that have emerged in practice, rest on solid political and legal footing, and enjoy broad consensus.

For those outside the 2026 legislative agenda, the committee requested the Government to supply explanatory documents, impact assessments and supporting materials to justify the use of the expedited legislative process./.