There should be regulations on virtual asset management, virtual money to prevent the risk of money laundering

National Assembly Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai delivered a speech to moderate the discussion on the draft Law on Prevention and Combat of Money Laundering (amended). Photo: Quochoi.vn

Speaking at the session, National Assembly Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai said that the majority of delegates agreed on the need to amend the Law on Prevention and Combat of Money Laundering to improve efficiency and effectiveness, contributing to detecting and handling corruption cases and preventing and combating corruption and ensuring financial and monetary security, in line with international commitments.

However, in order to be more effective, the National Assembly deputies still raised a number of comments asking the drafting agency to clarify such as the concept, name, scope and necessary amendments.

Because according to the National Assembly deputies, in the context that Vietnam is in the process of development, international integration is deepening, and a lot of capital is poured into our country through investment forms, there may be potential financial crime related to money laundering.

Along with that, National Assembly delegate Thai Thi An Chung (Nghe An union) said that in the real estate sector, there is a high risk of being attacked by money laundering criminals, real estate transactions can be through the floor or directly, payment by money or transfer should be difficult to control.

Therefore, he proposed to add the reporting object as an asset auction organization because an auction is a common form of property purchase and sale, revenue from the auction of land use rights accounts for a large proportion of state budget revenue in the locality, it is necessary to closely monitor the cash flow.

In addition, National Assembly delegate Thai Thi An Chung also suggested amending the Law on Real Estate Business in the direction of stipulating that real estate transactions must be paid through the banking system, to prevent tax loss for anti-money laundering and real estate market transparency.

In particular, many National Assembly deputies emphasized the prevention of money laundering in online transactions, transactions with virtual money and virtual assets. Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hai (Doan Thua Thien - Hue) expressed that transactions on online platforms are very popular, unregulated and forecasted with the expansion of international integration, virtual currency transactions will develop and may become favorable conditions for money laundering.

Sharing the same view, delegate Huynh Thi Phuc (Ba Ria - Vung Tau delegation) said that the development of the digital economy is also an opportunity for criminals to commit more sophisticated and complex fraud, including acts of money laundering using high technology through e-commerce channels, financial services on digital platforms.

Therefore, the delegate suggested that the drafting committee consider supplementing the legal provisions on prevention, anti-money laundering for virtual money and virtual assets to promptly prevent money laundering activities.

It is necessary to improve the law on the prevention and combat of money laundering through virtual assets. Source: Internet.

Also related to this issue, National Assembly deputy, Lieutenant General Nguyen Hai Trung (Hanoi delegation) - Director of Hanoi City Public Security said that the Hanoi City Police is currently investigating the case with the charge of fraud, appropriating assets and laundering money with an estimated amount of up to many trillions of dong.

The subjects masterminding and organizing these criminal activities are foreigners, hiring many other foreigners, including Vietnamese, while the headquarters, venue, tools and equipment for committing the offense are abroad. After receiving the victim's money, it is divided into several accounts, then into one virtual account, and then cashed out.

Therefore, delegate Nguyen Hai Trung suggested that there should be a coordination mechanism to compare the information of bank account holders and accounts on payment intermediary platforms, sometimes registering to open an account with the national database about the population to prevent the use of fake accounts.

In particular, there should be regulations on virtual asset management, virtual money, asset technology services, because virtual money and digital money have not been recognized legally but in fact, there is an "underground market" and most criminals use virtual money to launder money.

Explaining the issues raised by the National Assembly deputies, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong said that about the proposal to add companies providing virtual asset services or doing financial and currency business based on technology, during the development process, the drafting agency included these activities in the draft law, but during the consultation process, it was suggested that these activities have not been specified in the current legal documents, so they have not been included in the draft law.

Therefore, according to the Governor, this regulation will assign the Government to supplement the reporting object after receiving the approval and consent of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

The SBV leader also said that in 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision 1255 approving the project "Completing the legal framework to manage and handle virtual assets, cryptocurrencies and virtual currencies".

The Ministry of Justice is assigned to review and assess the current situation of virtual currencies and make a proposal to develop legal documents on the management of virtual currencies and virtual assets. The Prime Minister also assigned the Ministry of Finance to act as the focal point to implement the task of "developing legal documents on virtual currencies and virtual assets" and implement measures to prevent and block transactions of virtual assets and virtual currency exchanges.