THE STATE BANK OF VIETNAM
Circular No. 19/2017/TT-NHNN dated December 28, 2017 of the State Bank of Vietnam on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN dated November 20, 2014 of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam providing for prudential ratios and limits for operations of credit institutions and branches of foreign banks
Pursuant to the Law on the State bank of Vietnam dated June 16, 2010;
Pursuant to the Law on credit institutions dated June 16, 2010;
Pursuant to the Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on credit institutions dated November 20, 2017;
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 16/2017/ND-CP dated February 17, 2017 on defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the State bank of Vietnam;
At the request of the Chief Inspector of Banks;
The Governor of the State bank of Vietnam promulgates the Circular on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN dated November 20, 2014 of the Governor of the State bank providing for prudential ratios and limits for operations of credit institutions and branches of foreign banks (Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN).
Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN
1. To amend Clause 1 Article 1 as follows:
“1. This Circular provides for prudential ratios and limits for operations of credit institutions and branches of foreign banks that must be constantly maintained, including:
a) Minimum capital adequacy ratio, except for the minimum capital adequacy ratio applied to banks and branches of foreign banks under specific regulations of the State Bank;
b) Credit limit;
c) Solvency ratio;
d) Maximum ratio of short-term capital sources used as medium and long-term loans;
dd) Rates of purchase of and investment in government bonds and government-backed bonds;
e) Limit on capital contribution and stock purchase;
g) Loan-to-deposit ratio.”
2. To amend Clause 3 Article 1 as follows:
“3. Credit institutions under special control shall apply prudential ratios and limits for operations as prescribed in 146dd of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented).”
3. To add Clause 4 and 5 to Article 1 as follows:
“4. Credit institutions shall provide support under approved recovery plans and apply rates of purchase of and investment in government bonds and government-backed bonds as prescribed in Clause 8 Article 148dd of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented).
5. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks participating in financing programs and projects under decisions of the Government or the Prime Minister shall consider the capital sources and outstanding debts of each program or project when determining prudential ratios and limits under the decisions of the Government or the Prime Minister."
4. To amend Clause 12 and 13 Article 3 as follows:
“12. “Credit extension” refers to an agreement signed by a credit institution or branch of foreign banks allowing an organization or individual to use a sum of money or a commitment allowing the use of a sum of money on the repayment principle by different transactions such as lending, discounting, financial leasing, factoring, purchase and investment in enterprise bonds, issuance of credit cards, bank guarantee and other transactions in accordance with regulations of the State Bank, including credit extension from a source of financing of other legal persons whose risks are taken by a credit institution or branch of foreign banks according to the provisions of law.
13.“Total amount of outstanding debts incurred from the credit extension”consists of total outstanding loans, discounts, re-discounts, financial leasing, factoring, total purchase of and investment in enterprise bonds and other transactions in accordance with regulations of the State Bank, including outstanding debts incurred from the credit extension from a source of financing of other legal persons whose risks are taken by a credit institution or foreign bank branch according to the provisions of law; guaranteed balance and trusted credits extended by other credit institutions or branches of foreign banks.”
5. To amend Point c Clause 15 Article 3 as follows:
“c) Legal persons or other individuals who are potentially risky to the operation of the credit institution or foreign bank branch shall be determined in accordance with the internal rules of the credit institution or foreign bank branch or the written request of the State Bank through inspection and supervision on a case-by-case basis”.
6.To amend Clause 18 and add Clause 18a to Clause 18 Article 3 as follows:
“18. “Credit extension used for stock investment and business” means a credit institution or branch of a foreign bank’s credit extension or entrusted credit extension in accordance with law provisions to customers so that customers or other legal persons and individuals may use such source of financing for stock investment, stock trading and stock holding.
18a. “Credit extension used for enterprise bonds” means a credit institution or branch of a foreign bank’s credit extension or entrusted credit extension in accordance with law provisions to customers so that customers or other legal persons and individuals may use such source of financing for enterprise bond investment, bond trading and bond holding.”
7. To add Clause 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 to Article 3 as follows:
“19. “Credit institution, foreign bank branch”refers to credit institutions or foreign bank branches established and operated within the territory of Vietnam in accordance with its laws and regulations.
20.“Financial institution”refers to institutions regulated in the anti-money laundering laws.
21.“Financial institution abroad”refers to financial institutions established abroad in accordance with laws of host countries.
22.“Average liabilities of a month”are calculated by total liabilities balance on the balance sheet at the end of each day in such month divided by total days in such month.
23.“Forward purchase or sale”refers to the transaction in whichacredit institution or a foreign bank branch purchases or acquires ownership of valuable papers that have not reached maturity (the buyer) from another credit institution or foreign bank branch (the seller), at the same time the seller commits to buy back such valuable papers after a specified period.
24.“Subordinated debt” refers to a debt that according to the agreement, the creditor shall only pay after other obligations are discharged, or a debt that gets or does not get other guarantees in case of the borrower’s bankruptcy or dissolution.”
8. To amend Point d and dd Clause 1 Article 4 as follows:
"d) Approval of credit extension and debt rescheduling (including debt extension and debt payment adjustment) shall comply with the principle of transparency, not conflict of interest and not hiding the quality of credit, in which the person deciding the debt rescheduling is not the person extending such credit, except for the case in which the credit extension is approved by the Board of Directors, Board of Members or General Director/Director (branches of foreign banks). In case the credit extension and debt rescheduling are approved through council system, the chairperson of the Board approving the debt rescheduling is not the chairperson of the Board extending such credit and at least two-third (2/3) of the members of the Board approving the debt rescheduling are not members of the Board extending such credit;
dd) Regulations on risk management of credit extensions used for investment and trading of stock and enterprise bonds; credit extension used for real estate business; credit extension used for projects under build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts and build-transfer (BT) contracts.”
9. To add Point e to Clause 1 Article 4 as follows:
“e) Regulations on credit extension applied to Directors (Deputy Directors) of branches, affiliated entities and other equivalent titles of credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall comply with regulations specified in Point a, b, c, d and dd of this Clause. The identification of equivalent titles shall comply with internal regulations of such credit institutions and foreign bank branches.”
10. To amend Clause 3 Article 6 as follows:
“3. Method for calculating the actual value of charter capital and allocated fund:
The actual value of charter capital and allocated fund is calculated by addition (subtraction) of undistributed profit (loss) recognized on accounting books to charter capital, allocated fund and capital surplus.”
11. To amend Clause 3 and 4 Article 10 as follows:
“3. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall prepare a report to the General meeting of shareholders and General meeting of members on their credits extended to entities regulated in Clause 1 Article 127 of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented) which incurred at the time of collecting data for the General meeting of shareholders and General meeting of members; report any credit extended to entities regulated in Clause 1 Article 127 of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented) to owners, capital contributors, managers, executives and the State Bank (Bank Supervision and Inspection Agency).
4. Credits extended to subsidiaries, associate companies (except for the credit limit regulated in Article 126 of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented)) and entities specified in the list regulated in Clause 2 this Article shall be approved by the Board of Directors, the Board of Members and General Director/Director (Regarding branches of foreign banks), apart from credit extensions under the authority of the General meeting of shareholders. The Control Board shall supervise the approval of credits extended to such entities.”
12. To amend Article 11 as follows:
“Article 11. Credit limit
Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall comply with regulations and law on cases on exclusion from credit extension, restrictions on credit extension and credit limit specified in Article 126, 127 and 128 of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented).”
13. To amend Article 13 as follows:
“Article 13. Conditions and limits of credit extensions used for enterprise bonds investment and trading
1. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall only extend credits with a term of 01 year or shorter to clients to serve the purpose of investment and trading in enterprise bonds if they satisfy the following regulations:
a) Credit extensions shall comply with prudential ratios and limits in accordance with law provisions;
b) Bad debt ratio remains below 3%;
c) Regulations on risk management under law provisions on credit extensions, internal control system shall be strictly observed and risk provisions shall be set up adequately in accordance with law provisions.
2. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall not extend credits to clients to serve the purpose of investment and trading in enterprise bonds in the following cases:
a) Assets put up as collaterals are bonds issued by credit institutions or subsidiaries of the credit institution or foreign bank branch;
b) Assets put up as collaterals are bonds issued by the enterprise that the client borrows credit to purchase bonds of such enterprise;
c) The client is one of the entities regulated in Clause 1 Article 126 of the Law on credit institutions;
d) The client is related to the entities regulated in Clause 1 and 4 of Article 126 of the Law on credit institutions;
dd) The client is one of the entities regulated in Clause 1 Article 127 of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented) or is related to such entities;
e) The client borrows credit to invest in bonds that have not been listed in the stock market or registered in the trading market of unlisted public companies (Upcom).
3. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall not extend credits used for investment and trading in enterprise bonds to clients who are subsidiaries or associate companies of such credit institutions.
4. The total outstanding loan balance for credit extensions used for investment and trading in enterprise bonds of a credit institution or foreign bank branch shall not exceed 5% of the charter capital and allocated fund of such credit institution or foreign bank branch.
14. To amend Article 14 as follows:
“Article 14. Conditions and limits of credit extensions used for stock investment and trading
1. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall only extend credits with a term of 01 year or shorter to clients to serve the purpose of investment and trading in stock if they satisfy the following regulations:
a) Credit extensions shall comply with prudential ratios and limits in accordance with law provisions;
b) Bad debt ratio remains below 3%;
c) Regulations on risk management under law provisions on credit extensions, internal control system shall be strictly observed and risk provisions shall be set up adequately in accordance with law provisions.
2. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall not extend credits to clients to serve the purpose of stock investment and trading in the following cases:
a) Assets put up as collaterals are stocks issued by credit institutions or subsidiaries of the credit institution;
b) Assets put up as collaterals are stocks issued by the enterprise that the client borrows credit to purchase stocks of such enterprise;
c) The client borrows credit to invest in stocks issued by the credit institution;
d) The client is one of the entities regulated in Clause 1 Article 126 of the Law on credit institutions;
dd) The client is related to the entities regulated in Clause 1 and 4 of Article 126 of the Law on credit institutions;
e) The client is one of the entities regulated in Clause 1 Article 127 of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented) or is related to such entities;
3. Credit institutions shall not extend credits used for stock investment and trading to clients who are subsidiaries or associate companies of such credit institutions.
4. The total outstanding loan balance for credit extensions used for stock investment and trading of a credit institution or foreign bank branch shall not exceed 5% of the charter capital and allocated fund of such credit institution or foreign bank branch.”
15. To amend Point b and c Clause 2 Article 15 as follows:
“b) The calculation of liquid reserve ratio is based on the following formula:
Liquid reserve ratio (%) | = | Highly liquid assets | x 100 |
Total liability |
Where:
- Highly liquid assets are determined according to the Appendix 3 hereof;
- Total liability denotes the total liability entry on a balance sheet minus:
+ Refinanced loans made by the State Bank through discount on valuable papers, loans pledged by valuable papers (minus the refinanced loans made by the State Bank according to bonds issued by Vietnam asset management company); overnight loans in the interbank electronic payment system; forward sale of valuable papers through open market operations of the State Bank.
+ Credit extensions of other credit institutions and branches of foreign banks through forward sale, discount, re-discount and pledged loans: (i) valuable papers used in the State Bank s trading transactions; (ii) bonds or bills issued or secured under payment guarantees by the Governments and Central Banks of countries rated at least AA by international credit rating organizations (Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Rating) or other corresponding rank of other independent credit rating organizations.
c) Highly liquid assets and total liability are calculated in Vietnamese dong, including Vietnamese dong and other foreign currencies freely converted into Vietnamese dong (According to the exchange rate or cross exchange rate between VND and other foreign currencies quoted by the State Bank daily or the exchange rate calculated by the credit institution or foreign bank branch in the event that there are no exchange rate or cross exchange rate between VND and other foreign currencies).”
16. To amend Point a Clause 3 Article 15 as follows:
"a) Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks must calculate and maintain the solvency ratio within 30 days regarding Vietnam dong and the solvency ratio within 30 days regarding foreign currencies (including USD and other foreign currencies converted into USD according to the exchange rate or cross exchange rate between USD and other foreign currencies or the exchange rate calculated by the credit institution or foreign bank branch in the event that there are no exchange rate or cross exchange rate between VND and other foreign currencies).”
17.To amend Article 17 as follows:
“Article 17. Maximum ratio of short-term capital sources used as medium and long term loans
1. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall calculate the maximum ratio of short-term capital sources used as medium and long term loans in Vietnamese dong, including Vietnamese dong and other foreign currencies converted into Vietnamese dong (According to the exchange rate or cross exchange rate between VND and other foreign currencies quoted by the State Bank daily or the exchange rate calculated by the credit institution or foreign bank branch in the event that there are no exchange rate or cross exchange rate between VND and other foreign currencies) according to the following formula:
Where:
- A: Maximum ratio of short-term capital sources used as medium and long term loans.
- B: Total outstanding medium and long term loans regulated in Clause 2 of this Article minus the total amount of medium and long term capital sources regulated in Clause 3 of this Article.
- C: Short term capital source regulated in Clause 4 of this Article.
2. Total outstanding medium and long term loans include:
a) The following outstanding debts for which the remaining repayment period is more than 01 (one) year:
(i) Loans and financial leases (including those granted to other credit institutions and foreign bank branches in Vietnam), except for:
- Loans and financial leases made by the entrusted fund of the Government, other individuals and organizations (including other credit institutions and foreign bank branches in Vietnam; parent banks, parent banks’ overseas branches) with which risks associated shall be incurred by such Government, individuals and organizations;
- Loans for programs and projects made by the refinancing fund of the State Bank under decisions of the Government or the Prime Minister.
(ii) Entrustments used as loans or financial leases of other credit institutions or foreign bank branches whereby the risk associated therewith shall be incurred by the entrusting credit institutions or foreign bank branches;
(iii) Purchases of or investments in valuable papers (including bonds issued by the Vietnam asset management company), except for those used in the State Bank’s transactions;
(iv) If the loans, financial leases or entrustments specified in (i) and (ii) this Point has many debts corresponding to different repayment periods, the remaining repayment period for calculation of medium and long term loans shall be determined for each debt corresponding to the repayment term of such debt.
b) Overdue principal of loans, entrustments, financial leases, the excess amount of purchases of and investments in medium and long-term valuable papers.
3. Medium and long-term fund comprises the excess amount of the followings of which the maturity period is more than 01 (one) year:
a) Deposit made by individuals;
b) Deposits made by foreign and domestic entities, except all types of the State Treasury’s deposits;
c) Borrowings obtained from domestic and foreign financial institutions (exclusive of borrowings obtained from other credit institutions or foreign bank branches in Vietnam);
d) Borrowings from investment trust whereby the risk associated therewith shall be incurred by the entrusting credit institutions or foreign bank branches;
dd) Borrowings made by central credit institutions and branches of foreign banks in case the credit institution or foreign bank branch participates in on-lending of projects from investment entrustments and risks associated with such loans incurred by the entrusting credit institutions or foreign bank branches;
e) Funds raised from the issuance of promissory notes, treasury bills, certificates of deposit and bonds;
g) Charter capital, allocated fund, reserve fund for charter capital complementation, investment fund and the remaining amount of financial reserve fund from which the original value of the amount purchased or investments in fixed assets, or equity participations or share acquisitions have been taken away in accordance with laws and regulations;
h) Share premiums and undistributed profits remaining after purchase of treasury stocks;
i) Borrowings obtained from other credit institutions or foreign bank branches in Vietnam with respect to non-bank credit institutions;
k) Deposits of people s credit funds with respect to cooperative banks.
4. Short-term source of finance includes the excess amount of the followings of which the maturity period is up to 01 (one) year (including demand deposits):
a) Personal deposits other than margin and special deposits;
b) Deposits made by foreign and domestic entities, except the followings:
(i) All types of the State Treasury’s deposits;
(ii) Margin and special deposits of customers;
(iii) Deposits of other credit institutions or foreign bank branches in Vietnam.
c) Borrowings obtained from domestic and foreign financial institutions (exclusive of borrowings obtained from other credit institutions or foreign bank branches in Vietnam);
d) Borrowings from investment trust whereby the risk associated therewith shall be incurred by the entrusting credit institutions or foreign bank branches;
dd) Borrowings made by central credit institutions and branches of foreign banks in case the credit institution or foreign bank branch participates in on-lending of projects from investment entrustments and risks associated with such loans incurred by the entrusting credit institutions or foreign bank branches;
e) Funds raised from the issuance of promissory notes, treasury bills, certificates of deposit and bonds;
g) Borrowings or deposits obtained from other credit institutions or foreign bank branches in Vietnam with respect to non-bank credit institutions;
h) Deposits of people s credit funds with respect to cooperative banks.
5. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks shall comply with the maximum ratio of short-term capital sources used as medium and long term loans under the following roadmap:
a) From January 01, 2018 to the end of December 31, 2018:
(i) Banks, branches of foreign banks: 45%;
(ii) Non-bank credit institutions: 90%.
b) From January 01, 2019:
(i) Banks, branches of foreign banks: 40%;
(ii) Non-bank credit institutions: 90%.”.
18. Section 5a shall be added to Section 5 and Article 17a shall be added to Article 17 as follows:
“Section 5a. RATES OF PURCHASE AND INVESTMENT IN GOVERNMENT BONDS AND GOVERNMENT-BACKED BONDS
Article 17a. Rates of purchase and investment in government bonds and government-backed bonds
1. Credit institutions and branches of foreign banks are entitled to purchase and invest in government bonds and government-backed bonds against total average liabilities of the preceding month under the following maximum rate schedule:
a) Banks, branches of foreign banks: 30%;
b) Non-bank credit institutions: 10%.
2. Government bond comprises of:
a) Treasury bills;
b) Treasury bonds;
c) State bonds.
3. Government-backed bond comprises of:
a) Government-backed enterprise bonds;
b) Bonds issued by policy banks and backed by the Government;
c) Bonds issued by financial institutions or credit institutions and backed by the Government.
4. The excess amount of purchases of or investments in Government bonds and Government-backed bonds for determination of the maximum ratios referred to in Clause 1 of this Article means the book value of Government bonds and Government-backed bonds owned by credit institutions or foreign bank branches and entrustments to other organizations to purchase and invest in Government bonds and Government-backed bonds, but excludes purchases of or investments in Government bonds and Government-backed bonds financed by entrusted funds of other individuals or organizations to which any risk is not incurred by such credit institutions or foreign bank branches.
5. Newly established credit institutions and branches of foreign banks (Exclude credit institutions re-organized under the Law on credit institutions) whose operation period is under two (02) years from the beginning day of operation and total liabilities are smaller than charter capital or allocated fund are entitled to purchase and invest in government bonds and government-backed bonds under the maximum rate of 30% to their charter capital or allocated fund.”
19. To amend Article 18 as follows:
“Article 18. Limit on capital contribution and stock purchase
Commercial banks and financial companies shall comply with the limit on capital contribution and stock purchase as specified in Article 103, 110, 129 and 135 of the Law on credit institutions (amended and supplemented).”
20. To amend Point c Clause 3 Article 20 as follows:
“c) Commercial banks shall not delegate their staff to participate in the Board of Directors of credit institutions whose stocks have been purchased and held by commercial banks, except for the case in which such credit institutions are subsidiaries of commercial banks or commercial banks are assisting credit institutions designated to participate in the management, control, administration and support of the organization and operation of credit institutions under special control;”
21. To add Point dd to Clause 3 Article 20 as follows:
“dd) If commercial banks sell stocks of other credit institutions in the form of deferred payments, commercial banks may only transfer their ownership rights of the amount of shares corresponding to the amount already paid by the receivers.”
22. To amend Clause 1 Article 21 as follows:
“1. Commercial banks, cooperative banks and branches of foreign banks shall conform to the maximum outstanding loan-to-deposit ratio in Vietnamese dong, including Vietnamese dong and foreign currencies converted into Vietnamese dong (According to the exchange rate or cross exchange rate between VND and other foreign currencies quoted by the State Bank daily or the exchange rate calculated by the credit institution or foreign bank branch in the event that there are no exchange rate or cross exchange rate between VND and other foreign currencies) at the percentage calculated according to the following formula:
Where:
- LDR: Loan-to-deposit ratio.
- L: Total amount of outstanding loans regulated in Clause 2 and 3 of this Article.
- D: Total amount of deposits regulated in Clause 4of this Article.”
23. Point b Clause 1 Article 29 shall be amended as follows:
"b) Preside over and cooperate with relevant Departments and Services to request the State Bank’s Governor to consider determining specific limits and ratios in accordance with regulations specified in Clause 2, 3, 4 and 5 Article 1 hereof”.
24. Substitute annexure to Annex 1, Annex 2 and Annex 3 of the Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN by Annex 1, Annex 2 and Annex 3 hereto.
Article 2. To annul a number of articles
To annul Article 12 and 19 of Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN.
Article 3. Transitional provisions
1. Transition provisions applied to the minimum capital adequacy ratio
As at the entry into force of this Circular, credit institutions and foreign bank branches whose minimum capital adequacy ratios have not yet complied with regulations and law specified in Article 9 of Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN which is amended by this Circular must develop treatment plans, in which the following contents must be included:
a) Minimum capital adequacy ratio which are in breach of regulations;
b) Treatment measures and plans that ensure compliance within six (06) months from the day on which this Circular comes into effect.
2. Transition provisions applied to credit extension
a) As at the effect date of this Circular, credit institutions and foreign bank branches whose credit source extended to a customer for investments or trades in enterprise bonds fails to comply with regulations specified in Article 13 of the Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN which is amended by this Circular shall, from the day on which this Circular comes into effect, not extend any additional credit source for investments or trades in enterprise bonds until they meet all conditions;
b) As at the entry into force of this Circular, credit institutions and foreign bank branches whose credit source extended to a customer to serve the purpose of stock investment and trading fails to comply with regulations specified in Article 14 of the Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN which is amended by this Circular shall, from the day on which this Circular comes into effect, not extend any additional credit source for investments or trades in stocks until they meet all conditions;
3. Transition provisions applied to rates of purchase and investment in government bonds and government-backed bonds
As at the entry into force of this Circular, credit institutions and foreign bank branches whose rates of purchase and invest in government bonds and government-backed bonds against total average liabilities of the preceding month fails to comply with regulations specified in Article 17a of the Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN which is amended by this Circular shall, from the day on which this Circular comes into effect, not purchase or invest in more government bonds or government-backed bonds until they meet all conditions.
Article 4. Effect
1.This Circular takes effect on February 12, 2018.
2.Regulations specified in Article 17 of Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN amended and supplemented by this Circular shall be applied to determine and comply with the maximum ratio of short-term capital sources used as medium and long-term loans from January 01, 2018.
3.Clause 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of Article 1 and Article 3 of Circular No. 06/2016/TT-NHNN dated May 27, 2016 of the Governor of the State Bank on amending and supplementing certain articles of the Circular No. 36/2014/TT-NHNN.
Article 5. Implementation
The Chief of the Office, Chief Inspector and Supervisor of banks, Heads of affiliated entities of the State Bank, Directors of the State Bank branches located at centrally-affiliated cities and provinces, Chairpersons of the Board of Directors, Chairpersons of the Board of Members, and General Director (Director) of credit institutions and foreign bank branches, shall implement this Circular./.
For the Governor
The Deputy Governor
Nguyen Dong Tien