New Anti-Money Laundering Law Enters into Force
The Vietnamese economy has experienced huge transformations, and this can lead to increased risks of money laundering and tax evasion. Now, a new anti-money laundering law has entered into force in Vietnam to tackle this issue.
On 1 March, Law No. 14/2022/QH15 dated 15 November 2022, better known as the Anti-Money Laundering Law, came into effect, replacing previous regulations from 2012.
The new law covers both financial and (importantly) non-financial entities operating in sectors sensitive to money laundering, such as real estate. Non-financial entities include, in particular, certain enterprises operating in the real estate sector.
The Anti-money Laundering Law aims to tighten up the previous legislation and better align Vietnam with international standards and practices. In that spirit, it includes new provisions to prevent money laundering. In particular, the new law includes specific provisions for real estate enterprises:
- Article 24.1 requires that real estate enterprises develop internal rules on anti-money laundering.
- Suspicious real estate transactions must be reported to the State Bank of Vietnam (“SBV”). Examples could include sellers being unable to provide information about their properties or both parties not being concerned about the price of real estate.
- Transactions involving the following cases must be postponed: people on the blacklist of the Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) or Ministry of National Defence; convicted of crimes or of financing terrorism; or at the request of SBV.
- Violation of these regulations could lead to administrative penalties.
The new Anti-money Laundering Law also includes a new, broader definition of money laundering. This encapsulates all cases in which illicit or criminal funds are legitimised, whether directly or indirectly. The law has also increased the number of entities required to perform so-called “Know Your Customer” (or “KYC”) checks on their customers.
For more information about this new law, or what companies need to do to be compliant, just contact our team on: contact@apflpartners.com
