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State Bank tightens rules for FX agents
The State Bank of Viet Nam has tightened the criteria for becoming a foreign exchange agent in a bid to ensure that their activities are designed to meet the needs of the expat community and tourists and to deter currency speculation.
Under Decision No 21/ 2008/QD-NHNN issued by State Bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau last Friday, FX agents must be located close to three- to five-star hotels, airline booking offices, tourism areas, shopping malls, commercial centres or international border gates.
The State Bank has also set minimum infrastructure, human resource administration and security levels for money changers.
FX agents and credit institutions must sign new contracts. Their partners have three months after the decision's publication in the official gazette to end existing contracts or FX licences will expire.
Credit institutions have also been ordered to monitor more closely the activities or their agents.
The new decision states that any financial institution can act as a bank's agent. However, each bank can only have one agent.
The new decision is designed to meet the needs of foreign tourists, who are also a valuable source of foreign currency.
The decision does not affect the foreign exchange activities of banks, only their agents.
Over the past five weeks there have been dramatic fluctuations in the money markets.
A senior official at the central bank's Foreign Exchange Management Department told Viet Nam News that the new regulations were well-thought out and should put FX agents back on the right track.
There are 3,591 FX tables, of which 2,294 are for banks and 1,297 are for agents, governor Giau told reporters in Hanoi earlier this month.
About 941 FX tables are running in Hanoi, of which 687 tables are operated directly at banks, while 251 tables are held by authorised dealers. HCM City has 1,219 FX tables, half of which are run directly by banks.
Decision No 21/2008/QD-NHNN replaces Decision No 1216/2003/QD-NHNN issued in 2003.
VNN
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