The Ministry of Justice has just announced the appraisal dossier on new regulations on gold bars, related to the draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 24/2012/ND-CP. The deadline for the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to submit this draft to the Government is today (July 15). These new regulations are expected to improve the management of gold trading activities, ensuring transparency and safety for the market. Let's follow these important changes!
Gold management by serial number under new regulations on gold bars
In comments on the draft, the Ministry of Public Security stated that the draft does not have specific regulations on the management of gold bar serial numbers, including: newly produced gold bar serial numbers, dented and reprocessed gold bars, serial numbers in buying and selling transactions, as well as serial numbers of gold bars converted into raw materials.
The Ministry of Public Security believes that mandatory recording of serial numbers on transaction documents will help limit risks, verify the legality and origin of gold transactions, thereby strengthening management and control of gold trading activities in a strict and safe manner, while ensuring the rights of customers.
"The State Bank of Vietnam needs to review and supplement regulations to strictly manage gold bar serial numbers, and at the same time require the recording of serial number information on documents in all transactions to minimize risks in gold trading activities," the Ministry of Public Security emphasized.
Today, July 15, is the deadline for the State Bank to submit the draft Decree 24/2012 amending the gold market management to the Prime Minister . Photo: LAM GIANG
Speaking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper on the afternoon of July 14, Mr. Huynh Trung Khanh, Vice President of the Vietnam Gold Trading Association (VGTA), said that the Ministry of Public Security's proposal to manage gold bar serial numbers is reasonable. According to Mr. Khanh, this not only helps to specifically identify each transaction and sale of gold bars but also contributes to preventing money laundering through tracing serial numbers. In addition, gold bars with clear serial numbers also help prevent brand counterfeiting.
However, according to experts from VGTA, to implement this regulation, there needs to be a roadmap and appropriate solutions for the millions of gold bars that have been circulating on the market for many years. Because previously, gold purchase and sale invoices were not required to include serial numbers, so there needs to be a way to handle the gold that people are holding or when they are reselling it.
The general director of a gold trading company in Ho Chi Minh City also said that managing the serial number of gold bars in transactions is necessary to trace the origin, limit fake gold and protect consumer rights. However, the State Bank needs to develop technical standards, methods of recording and tracing serial numbers that are detailed and easy to apply to avoid causing difficulties for businesses and people.
In addition, the Ministry of Public Security also proposed to supplement regulations on mechanisms and measures to manage the buying and selling prices of gold bars to create a legal corridor for intervention when necessary, avoiding monopoly, price manipulation or the formation of group interests through enterprises self-posting prices. In particular, the Ministry recommended that the maximum difference between the buying and selling prices of gold bars should be clearly defined to protect consumers and stabilize the market.
Identify barriers
The new draft decree also specifies commercial banks and enterprises that the State Bank will consider granting licenses to produce gold bars when they meet all conditions. Accordingly, enterprises wishing to be granted a license must have a minimum charter capital of VND1,000 billion, while commercial banks must have a charter capital of VND50,000 billion or more.
However, this regulation is causing much controversy. A representative of a gold trading enterprise said that the charter capital of 1,000 billion VND is too high, becoming a big barrier, not reflecting the actual capacity of many experienced and reputable enterprises in the market. This person proposed to reduce it to 500 billion VND, and at the same time consider adding other criteria such as technical capacity, brand, operating experience, compliance with the law and product quality standards.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security noted that according to the new regulations, a group of commercial banks and enterprises with sufficient capital will be formed to be licensed to produce gold bars or import raw gold. Currently, there are 3 large gold companies: Saigon Jewelry (SJC), Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ), DOJI Jewelry Group; 4 state-owned commercial banks: Vietcombank, VietinBank, Agribank, BIDV and 4 joint-stock banks: VPBank, Techcombank, MB, ACB.
"With the mechanism of "sub-licenses" with quotas, if there is a lack of strict management, supervision and post-inspection mechanisms, it is easy for negativity to arise in the licensing process, leading to the risk of monopolizing the production, import and distribution of raw gold to a selected group of units. In addition, there may also be a situation of production, import exceeding the limit or buying and selling of licenses and quotas" - the Ministry of Public Security warned.
More recommendations from practice
Financial expert, Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, stated that the main function of commercial banks is monetary activities, while gold is no longer currency. Therefore, banks should only be allowed to import gold bars and raw gold to take advantage of their financial resources and foreign currency status, serving the needs of domestic gold production and trading enterprises.
"In the beginning, when expanding the scope of gold import licenses for enterprises and banks, the management agency can request a license for each batch for control. But in the long term, the mechanism of requesting a license each time should be eliminated, instead, the State Bank only issues a quota once for the whole year. Units will proactively allocate and import according to demand and world price movements. This approach helps reduce the management workload of the State Bank and simplify procedures in the market" - Dr. Hieu analyzed.
Mr. Huynh Trung Khanh also agreed and said that the world gold price can fluctuate by hundreds of USD/ounce in just one day, if we have to ask for permission to import each batch, we will easily miss opportunities and bear great risks when prices reverse quickly. "We should issue annual import quotas, businesses and banks should proactively choose import times suitable for the market. Management is implemented through a mechanism of periodic reporting, post-audit, and we can even apply digital technology to monitor more transparently and conveniently" - Mr. Khanh proposed.
In response to comments, the State Bank said it has closely followed the directive on "eliminating the State monopoly mechanism in the controlled production of gold bars, on the principle that the State still manages the production of gold bars". Therefore, the draft decree has set out conditions on capital and capacity to select enterprises and banks with sufficient financial capacity and compliance with the law to participate in the production of gold bars, ensuring that the State still strictly controls this activity.
"Managing gold trading activities through a licensing mechanism in the current period is necessary. The State Bank will flexibly control the gold import limit to ensure macroeconomic goals. Accordingly, based on the annual limit, enterprises and banks will carry out procedures to request import and export licenses each time," the State Bank representative affirmed.
Gold transactions from 20 million VND must be transferred
According to the draft decree, gold transactions worth VND20 million or more per day for a customer must be conducted through a payment account opened at a bank. The State Bank of Vietnam said this regulation aims to ensure the authentication of customer information because bank accounts have been authenticated, while also increasing transparency in the gold market.
In addition, the State Bank also requires a clear regulation of the 20 million VND limit calculated on the total daily transactions of a customer, to avoid the situation of circumventing the law by dividing transactions under 20 million VND.
With the current price of SJC gold bars at around VND121.5 million/tael, gold rings at VND117.5 million/tael, if you buy 2 taels or more (over VND20 million), you have to transfer money. Many people and businesses think that this is in line with the policy of cashless payments. However, a representative of a gold company suggested that there should be specific instructions on what is considered "in the day" and the mechanism for accumulating transactions to avoid being exploited to circumvent regulations.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/vang-mieng-them-quy-dinh-bot-rui-ro-196250714202009646.htm
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