Hanoi Police Director: The State Bank's investigative powers should not be increased

Lieutenant General Nguyen Hai Trung said that violations in the banking sector are becoming more sophisticated but it is not necessary to increase the investigative powers of the State Bank.

The draft Law on Credit Institutions (amended) supplements the State Bank's investigative authority, in addition to the current inspection and supervision mechanism.

Discussing on the afternoon of June 10, Lieutenant General Nguyen Hai Trung, Director of Hanoi Police, said that this right should not be regulated. Instead, Mr. Trung proposed adding the State Bank's right to limit abuse of power by major shareholders and the right to manage and manipulate the operations of credit institutions.

At the same time, the bill needs to add measures to prevent the circumvention of the law by using many other individuals to stand in the name of major shareholder groups to manage credit institutions.

Mr. Trung assessed that the situation of cross-ownership and manipulation in banks is still "worrisome", especially in mobilizing capital for loans between businesses in the ecosystem of private economic groups.

According to him, the draft law reduces the adjustment of ownership ratios of individuals, helping to make the bank shareholder structure healthier. However, in reality, there are still major shareholders who are either named or not on the Board of Directors to manage, hold controlling shares and operate banking operations.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Hai Trung, Director of Hanoi Police. Photo: Hoang Phong — Lieutenant General Nguyen Hai Trung, Director of Hanoi Police. Photo: *Hoang Phong*

Ms. Van Thi Bach Tuyet, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Justice, also said that it is necessary to carefully consider increasing the investigative powers of the State Bank. Because current institutions already have enough tools to investigate violations in banking activities.

"If the State Bank's inspection and supervision agency discovers violations during the supervision process, it would be more appropriate to transfer them to a specialized investigation agency," she said.

On the contrary, Mr. Trinh Xuan An, a full-time member of the National Defense and Security Committee, said that it is necessary to re-establish the model of an independent agency to monitor and inspect credit activities.

He analyzed that cross-ownership is a reality that "everyone knows, but it is very difficult to point out names and specific addresses". However, the policy being designed is still not strong enough, the solution is passive, such as only reducing the share ratio and reducing the credit limit.

"It is not necessary to reduce shares and capital room, and it is even possible to allow higher ownership levels, but it is necessary to establish a management mechanism so that individuals and organizations cannot use cross-properties with their companies," said Mr. An.

Mr. An recalled the mass withdrawal at Saigon Bank - SCB last year, or the case of the US, where a strong banking system still allowed failures to occur. Therefore, in this revision of the bill, it is necessary to add more regulations on preventing systemic risks, so that when an incident occurs, the system can withstand it as it is now.

He added that there are countries that have re-established this agency after a period of suspension to "tighten" banking operations after a period of rapid development.

Mr. Trinh Xuan An, Standing Member of the National Defense and Security Committee. Photo: Hoang Phong — Mr. Trinh Xuan An, Standing Member of the National Defense and Security Committee. Photo: *Hoang Phong*

Regarding providing information to specialized crime prevention agencies , the draft law stipulates that competent state agencies request credit institutions and foreign bank branches to provide customer information.

However, Director of Hanoi Police Nguyen Hai Trung also said that in reality, high-tech crimes, gambling, and money laundering in cyberspace are very complicated, causing serious consequences. After the incidents, the police force immediately investigated the money flow and froze the accounts. "But with current regulations, the subjects immediately transferred the money very quickly, so the rate of recovering the money is very low," he said.

The Director of Hanoi Police also proposed to shorten the time of account freezing, and the Government may be assigned to study detailed regulations on this content.

However, Mr. Truong Trong Nghia, Ho Chi Minh City, said that the regulation should only require the provision of customer information related to cases being prosecuted and investigated. The content provided is also information necessary for the investigation. This, Mr. Nghia said, is to ensure the rights and privacy of customers.

Mr. Minh

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