STATE BANK OF
VIETNAM |
SOCIALIST
REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM |
No. 38/2024/TT-NHNN |
Hanoi, July 01, 2024 |
ON CONSULTING SERVICE PROVISION BY CREDIT INSTITUTIONS, FOREIGN BANK BRANCHES
Pursuant to the Law on State Bank of Vietnam dated June 16, 2010;
Pursuant to the Law on Credit Institutions dated January 18, 2024;
Pursuant to Decree No. 102/2022/ND-CP dated February 12, 2022 of the Government on functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;
At the request of the Director General of the Legislation Department;
The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam hereby promulgates a Circular on consulting service provision by credit institutions, foreign bank branches.
This Circular provides for the consultancy on banking operations and other business operations of credit institutions and foreign bank branches.
1. Commercial banks, cooperative banks, general finance companies, specialized financial companies, the people's credit funds, microfinance institutions; foreign bank branches (hereinafter referred to as “credit institutions”).
2. Organizations or individuals involved in the consulting service provision by credit institutions.
Article 3. Interpretation of terms
For the purposes of this Circular, the terms below shall be construed as follows:
1. ”Consultancy on banking operations and other business activities” (hereinafter referred to as “consultancy”) means the performance of one or several activities including information collection and processing, application of professional knowledge, problem identification and analysis by credit institutions to propose solutions and plans appropriate to consulting services specified in Article 4 of this Circular according to clients' requirements.
2. “consultant” is an employee of a credit institution providing consulting services, assigned and tasked with consulting directly with a client under a consulting contract.
3. “Client” means an organization (including another credit institution) or an individual using consulting services provided by a credit institution. Clients using consulting services provided by a credit institution are members of the credit institution.
4. “credit institution providing consulting services" (hereinafter referred to as “consultancy”) means a credit institution that is granted a License containing information on the consultancy on banking operations and other business operations by the State Bank of Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as “the State Bank”).
Article 4. Scope of consulting services
1. Consultancies are only permitted to provide consulting services in terms of banking operations or other business operations specified in Licenses granted by the State Bank to such consultancies.
2. Solutions and plans specified in clause 1 Article 3 hereof must be carried out by consultancies or other credit institutions and must be appropriate to banking operations or other business operations and must be conformable with Licenses granted by the State Bank to credit institutions.
Article 5. Consultancy principles
Consultancies must ensure the following principles:
1. Comply with the provisions of law and be responsible before the law for consulting activities performed by consultants and consulting contents.
2. Be responsible for monitoring the compliance with professional ethics and the performance of consulting activities of consultants.
3. Ensure the independence, honesty and objectivity of consulting activities.
4. Comply with regulations on client information security during the provision of consulting services unless otherwise agreed in writing with clients or otherwise prescribed by law.
5. Consultancies have autonomy in consulting activities.
6. The performance of consulting activities by electronic means must be in accordance with the provisions of law on electronic transactions.
Article 6. Internal regulations
1. Based on the provisions of this Circular and relevant provisions of law, a consultancy shall, before performing consulting activities, develop internal regulations on consulting activities.
Within 10 days from the date of promulgation or amendment, supplement or replacement of internal regulations, the consultancy shall submit them in person or via a postal service to the State Bank’s branch of a province or central-affiliated city (if the consultancy is a microfinance institution or the people's credit fund) or to the State Bank (via the Banking Inspection and Supervision Agency) (if the consultancy is another credit institution).
2. Internal regulations on consulting activities of a consultancy must include the following contents:
a) Process of receiving a request from a client and signing a consulting contract;
b) Process of performing consulting activities, including information collection and processing, application of professional knowledge, problem determination and analysis, proposal of solutions and plans that are appropriate to consulting activities specified in Article 4 of this Circular; and process of risk management of consulting activities;
c) Responsibilities and obligations of each department or individual involved in the performance of consulting activities. Internal regulations must clearly stipulate consulting activities that consultants can and cannot perform during the consulting process;
d) Professional ethical standards of consultants as prescribed in Article 7 of this Circular and responsibility for monitoring the compliance with professional ethics of the consultancy;
dd) Regulations on periodic training, organization of training, inspection and assessment of professional quality of consultants;
e) Process for receiving and resolving client complaints related to consulting activities.
Article 7. Professional ethical standards of consultants
1. Have professional understanding of the content to be provided for clients.
2. Be honest, fair, careful, and have integrity; Do not provide false or misleading information about the features, characteristics, and benefits of transactions for which consulting services are provided with the clients.
3. Work for the benefit of clients; the consulting content provided must be consistent with the information provided by clients (if any) about the clients’ situation, financial knowledge, behavioral capacity, social understanding, goals and financial needs.
4. Keep safe and separate clients' money and assets at consultancies from the transactions for which consulting services are provided unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
5. Do not make decisions for clients or influence clients to make decisions; Do not transfer client information or information related to consulting contracts to third parties without the clients’ written consent, unless requested by a competent authority according to the provisions of law.
6. Warn clients about risks that may arise during the implementation of the solutions and plans offered by consultants.
In case a consultant intends to provide a client with advice about a product, service, or transaction without the client's request, the consultant must notify and obtain the client's consent before consulting.
Article 9. Fees for consulting activities
Consultancies have the right to collect fees for consulting activities. Fees for consulting activities must be publicly posted and must be stated in the consulting contracts.
Article 10. Consulting contracts
1. Agreements and commitments with consultancies and their clients must be made into consulting contracts that are conformable to the provisions of law.
2. A consulting contract includes at least the following contents:
a) Name, address, other contact method (if any); Legal representative or authorized representative of the consultancy; name, address, other contact method (if any) of organization client; name, address, personal identification number, other contact methods (if any) of individual client;
b) Objectives and scope of consulting services;
c) Consulting methods;
d) Rights and obligations of the consultancy;
dd) Rights and obligations of the client;
e) Duration of contract execution;
g) Fees for consulting activities and payment methods;
h) Dispute resolution methods;
i) Validity of the contract;
k) Contract period;
l) Agreement on the parties' responsibility to compensate for damages when violating the contract.
3. Amendments and supplements to the consulting contract are carried out according to the agreement of the parties in accordance with this Circular and relevant provisions of law.
1. This Circular comes into force from July 01, 2024.
2. From the effective date of this Circular, credit institutions that have been granted Licenses to provide banking and financial consulting services; provide consulting services in banking and finance sector; provide consulting services in terms of banking and finance; provide micro-financial consulting services according to the provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions dated June 16, 2010 and the Law on amendments to the Law on Credit Institutions dated November 20 2017 may continue performing consulting operations as prescribed in this Circular without application for re-issuance of Licenses until the Licenses are amended, supplemented or renewed.
The Chief of the Office, the Director General of the Legislation Department, Chief of the Banking Inspection and Supervision Agency, Directors of the State Bank’s branches of provinces or central-affiliated cities, credit institutions, foreign bank branches are responsible for implementation of this Circular./.
|
PP. GOVERNOR |
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This translation is made by THƯ VIỆN PHÁP LUẬT, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and
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