Circular 66/2025/TT-NHNN amend Circular 34/2024/TT-NHNN on renewal of licenses, operation of commercial banks, foreign bank branches

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No. 34/2024/TT-NHNN on renewal of licenses, addition of operation contents to Licenses and organization, operation of commercial banks, foreign bank branches, Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign credit institutions and other foreign institutions engaged in banking activities

Pursuant to the Law No. 46/2010/QH12 on the State Bank of Vietnam;

Pursuant to the Law No. 32/2024/QH15 on Credit Institutions, which was amended and supplemented by the Law No. 96/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering Law No. 14/2022/QH15;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 52/2024/ND-CP on cashless payment;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 26/2025/ND-CP defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

At the proposal of the Director of the Payment Department;

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam promulgates Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Circular No. 34/2024/TT-NHNN on renewal of licenses, addition of operation contents to Licenses and organization, operation of commercial banks, foreign bank branches, Vietnam-based representative offices of foreign credit institutions and other foreign institutions engaged in banking activities.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing Article 3

“Article 3. Competence to decide on the renewal of Licenses, addition of operation contents to Licenses

1. The State Bank Governor decides on the renewal of Licenses, addition of operation contents to Licenses simultaneously with the renewal of Licenses for commercial banks and foreign bank branches that are subject to micro-prudential supervision by the Credit Institution Supervision Department.

2. The Director of Credit Institution Supervision Department is competent to decide on the addition of operation contents to Licenses for commercial banks and foreign bank branches that are subject to micro-prudential supervision by the Credit Institution Supervision Department.

3. The Director of the Regional State Bank branch (hereinafter referred to as the Director of the State Bank branch) may decide on:

a) The renewal of Licenses or addition of operation contents to Licenses or addition of operation contents to Licenses simultaneously with the renewal of Licenses for foreign bank branches headquartered in provinces or cities, except for foreign bank branches specified in Clause 1 of this Article;

b) The addition of operation contents to Licenses for foreign representative offices headquartered in such provinces and cities.”.

Article 2. Amending and supplementing Clause 1 Article 4

To replace the phrase “branches of the State Bank in provinces and centrally-run cities” with the phrase “Regional State Bank Branches”.

Article 3. Amending and supplementing Clause 1 Article 5

“1. Within 05 (five) working days from the date the State Bank Governor grants the renewal of License or addition of operation contents to License simultaneously with the renewal of License as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 3 of this Circular; the Director of the Credit Institution Supervision Department grants the addition of operation contents to License as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Circular, the Credit Institution Supervision Department shall notify in writing enclosed with the Decision on addition of operation contents to License or renewed License to the provincial-level business registration authority where the commercial bank or the foreign bank branch is headquartered to update the information on the national information system on business registration.”.

Article 4. Amending and supplementing a number of clauses of Article 7

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Commercial banks and foreign bank branches wishing to renew their License or add the operation contents to their License or add operation contents to the License simultaneously with renew their License, shall prepare dossiers as prescribed in Article 9 of this Circular and send them by post or directly to the State Bank’s headquarter (Single-window section) (for the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 3 of this Circular) or the State Bank Branch’s headquarter (Single-window section) (for the cases specified at Point a, Clause 3, Article 3 of this Circular) or online via the National public service portal (if any).”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Within 30 (thirty) days from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier from a commercial bank or foreign bank branch, the State Bank shall renew the License or add operation contents to the License or add operation content to the License simultaneously with the renewal of the License at the request for the commercial bank, foreign bank branch. In case of refusal, the State Bank shall reply in writing and clearly state the reason.”.

Article 5. Adding Clause 3a and Clause 3b after Clause 3 Article 8

“3a. An electronic dossier submitting online via the National public service portal may use digital signatures in accordance with the law regulations on performance of administrative procedures in the electronic environment. In case the National public service portal system encounters an incident or an error that prevents the receipt or exchange of information in the electronic environment, the declaration, sending, receipt, notice of results, exchange, and response to information shall be carried out via postal service or directly at the Single-window section of the State Bank or the State Bank branches.

3b. Documents in the electronic dossier shall be electronic copies in PDF format scanned from the primary source documents, original documents.”.

Article 6. Amending and supplementing Point dd Clause 2 Article 9

“dd) In case of applying for addition of activities of participating in the international payment system to the License, in addition to the dossier specified at Points a and b of this Clause, the commercial bank or foreign bank branch must additionally provide the following documents:

(i) The State Bank's written approval for the commercial bank or foreign bank branch to conduct basic foreign exchange activities on the domestic and international markets;

(ii) Internal regulations on policies and processes for risk management of money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to meet the requirements of the law on prevention and combat of money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction upon participation in international payment systems; Internal regulations on criteria for selecting international payment system for connection;

(iii) Explanation of technical solutions on information systems that meet the requirements of ensuring level-3 information system security as prescribed by law;

(iv) Documents proving that the organization operating the international payment system is legally established and operating overseas, including one of the following documents: copy of business registration certificate or copy of establishment decision, tax registration certificate or other documents issued by a competent agency of the country, territories where the organization operating the international payment system is legally established and operating; or copy of license for the establishment of the Vietnam-based representative office/branch (applicable to organizations operating the international payment system that have established a Vietnam-based representative office/branch).

The above-mentioned dossier components shall not apply to requests for participation in the system of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) or international card payment systems of international card organizations (including Visa, MasterCard, JCB, Amex, UPI);

(v) Documents describing the international payment system requested to be added to the license, including: Description of the technical infrastructure connecting the commercial bank or foreign bank branch with the international payment system; Description of the operational process for transaction processing, switching, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions between the commercial bank or foreign bank branch and the organization operating the international payment system.

The above-mentioned dossier components shall not apply to the cases of participation in the system of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) or international card payment systems of international card organizations (including Visa, MasterCard, JCB, Amex, UPI);

(vi) Documents prescribed at Point c, Clause 2 of this Article, or a letter of commitment from the owner, foreign credit institution owning at least 50% of the charter capital of a wholly foreign-owned bank (for a wholly foreign-owned bank), the parent bank (for a foreign bank branch), stating that the activities intended to be added to the License are permitted to be conducted in the country where the owner, foreign credit institution or parent bank is headquartered;

(vii) For cases that have participated in the international payment system before July 1, 2024, commercial banks and foreign bank branches shall submit the documents at Points dd(i), dd(iv), dd(v), dd(vi) Clause 2 of this Article and the following documents:

- An explanatory report demonstrating that the commercial banks or foreign bank branches meet the requirements of ensuring level-3 information system security and have internal regulations as prescribed at Point dd(ii), Clause 2 of this Article;

- Documents proving that the commercial banks or foreign bank branches has joined the international payment system before July 1, 2024, including one of the following papers: Contracts or agreements, or letters of confirmation from the organization operating the international payment system; other equivalent documents or letters of confirmation from the Vietnam-based representative office/branch of the organization operating the international payment system, within its competence, confirming that the commercial banks, foreign bank branches have joined the international payment system.

Commercial banks and foreign bank branches are not required to undergo consular legalization for documents already containing Vietnamese content (including foreign language documents translated into Vietnamese) that are certified by Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) or international card organizations (including Visa, MasterCard, JCB, Amex, UPI).”.

Article 7. Amending and supplementing a number of clauses of Article 10

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. A foreign representative office shall make a dossier of request for amendment or supplementation of the License and send it by post or submit it directly to the head office of the State Bank Branch (Single-window section), or online via the National public service portal (if any) in accordance with Point a, Clause 2, Article 11 of this Circular and ensure the principles of dossier preparation as prescribed in Article 8 of this Circular for the following changes:

a) Change of name;

b) Change of the location of the head office other than the province or city where the foreign representative office is located;

c) Extension of operation period.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. The foreign representative office shall submit a written notice by post or directly to head offices of the State Bank Branches of the places where such offices are located (Single-window section) or online via the National public service portal (if any) within 07 (seven) working days from the date of the following changes:

a) Change of Head of foreign representative office;

b) Change of the location of the head office in the same province or city;

c) Change the head office address without changing the location of the head office.”.

Article 8. Amending and supplementing Article 15

“Article 15. Notification on Heads of foreign representative offices

1. Within 10 (ten) days from the date of change of the Head of the foreign representative office or in the event of changes to the information of the Head of the foreign representative office, the foreign representative office must  notify in writing the State Bank branch where its headquarters is located with the information on the Head of the foreign representative office.

2. Within 05 (five) working days from the date of receipt of the written notice from the foreign representative office, the Director of the State Bank branch shall be responsible for notify in writing the information about the Head of the foreign representative office to the provincial-level business registration agency where the headquarters of the foreign representative office is located for the update in the national information system on enterprise registration.”.

Article 9. Amending and supplementing a number of points and clauses of Article 16

1. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Lying within the Vietnamese territory and at a given address with building name (if any), number of house, name of street, the name of the commune-level administrative unit, and the name of the provincial-level administrative unit; telephone number (if any), fax number (if any), and email (if any);”.

2. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 3 as follows:

“b) Lying within the Vietnamese territory and at a given address with building name (if any), number of house, name of street, the name of the commune-level administrative unit, and the name of the provincial-level administrative unit; telephone number (if any), fax number (if any), and email (if any);”.

Article 10. Amending and supplementing Clause 1 Article 18

To replace the phrase "the Banking Supervision Agency" with the phrase "the Credit Institution Supervision Department".

Article 11. Amending and supplementing Point e Clause 3 Article 22

“e) Commercial banks and foreign bank branches of which the addition to their Licenses regarding the participation in international payment system have been approved by the State Bank shall submit annual reports on transactions conducted via such international payment system, using the form provided in Appendix 04 issued together with this Circular. The annual reporting period is counted from January 1 to December 31 of that year, and the deadline for report submission is no later than the 20^th of the first month of the following year. In case of irregularities or when necessary, commercial banks and foreign bank branches shall make reports at the request of the State Bank.

Reports shall be submitted directly to the State Bank or via other electronic methods as guided by the State Bank.”.

Article 12. Amending and supplementing a number of points and clauses of Article 23

1. To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. The Credit Institution Supervision Department shall:

a) Act as the focal point for receiving, appraising and processing within its competence, or submitting to the Governor of the State Bank dossiers of application for renewal of Licenses, addition of operation contents to Licenses of the commercial banks, foreign bank branches subject to the micro-prudential supervision of the Credit Institution Supervision Department under Clauses 1 and 2, Article 3 of this Circular;

b) Have documents enclosed with dossiers to collect opinions of relevant units in the State Bank on the request of addition of operation contents to Licenses for activities of business, supply of interest-rate derivative products, supply of commodity derivatives, securities depository activities and participation in the international payment system when performing the responsibilities defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) Provide changed information enclosed with the Decision on addition of operation contents to Licenses or the renewed Licenses to the provincial-level business registration authority where the commercial banks or foreign bank branches are headquartered for updating the information in the national information system on business registration as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 5 of this Circular;

d) Be responsible for managing and archiving dossiers for renewal of licenses, addition of operation contents to Licenses after the licenses have been granted;

dd) Handle problems arising during the implementation of the Circular.”.

2. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 3 as follows:

“a) Within 10 (ten) days from the date of receiving a written request from the Credit Institution Supervision Department or the State Bank Branch for addition of content of participating in the international payment system to the Licenses, the Payment Department shall give specific written opinions on:

(i) The fact that the commercial banks and foreign bank branches have ensured the requirements on dossiers regarding:

- Documents describing the international payment system requested to be added to the License;

- Documents proving that the organization operating the international payment system is legally established and operating overseas;

- Internal regulations on criteria for selecting international payment systems for connection;

(ii) Contents related to the criteria for selecting international payment systems for connection in the explanatory report as prescribed at Point dd(vii), Clause 2, Article 9 of this Circular.”.

3. To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The Information Technology Department shall:

Within 10 (ten) days from the date of receiving a written request from the Credit Institution Supervision Department or the State Bank Branch on the addition of operation contents to Licenses for activities of participating in the international payment system, the Information Technology Department shall give specific written opinions on:

a) The fact that commercial banks and foreign bank branches have met the requirements for dossiers specified at Point dd(iii), Clause 2, Article 9 of this Circular and have internal regulations on criteria for selecting international payment systems for connection for contents related to technical conditions and ensuring safety and security when participating international payment systems;

b) Contents related to technical solutions on information systems that meet the requirements of ensuring level-3 information system security as prescribed by law in the explanatory report specified at Point dd(vii), Clause 2, Article 9 of this Circular;
 

c) Documents proving that the commercial banks and foreign bank branches has fulfilled the dossier-related requirements regarding technical infrastructure documents for system connection between the commercial banks, foreign bank branches and the organization operating the international payment system.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

To replace the phrase "the Banking Supervision Agency" with the phrase "the Credit Institution Supervision Department".

5. To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

To replace the phrase "the Banking Supervision Agency" with the phrase "the Credit Institution Supervision Department".

6. To amend and supplement Clause 7 as follows:

“7. The Exchange Management Department shall:

Within 10 (ten) days from the date of receiving the written request from the Credit Institution Supervision Department or the State Bank Branch on the addition of contents of participation in the international payment system to the License, the Foreign Exchange Management Department shall give specific opinions in writing on:

a) The fact that commercial banks and foreign bank branches have internal regulations on criteria for selecting international payment systems for connection for contents related to the law regulations on foreign exchange management when participating in the international payment system (if any);

b) Contents related to regulations on foreign exchange management when commercial banks and foreign bank branches participate in the international payment system (if any) in the explanatory report as prescribed at Point dd(vii), Clause 2, Article 9 of this Circular;

c) The consistency of the international payment transaction processing procedures of the commercial banks, foreign bank branches with the organization operating the international payment system regarding contents related to foreign exchange management regulations (if any).”.

7. To amend and supplement a number of points of Clause 8 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point c as follows:

“c) Send the changed information enclosed with the Decision on addition of operation contents to the License or the renewed License to the provincial-level business registration authority where the foreign bank branch is headquartered for updating the information in the national information system on business registration as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 5 of this Circular;”.

b) To amend and supplement Point d as follows:

“d) To notify the business registration office of information on the Head of the foreign representative office;”.

c) To amend and supplement Point k as follows:

“k) Collect fees for renewal of licenses of foreign bank branches, except for foreign bank branches subject to micro-prudential supervision by the Credit Institution Supervision Department, and remit all collected fees into the State budget according to current regulations.”.

8. To add Clause 9 as follows:

“9. The Anti-Money Laundering Department shall:

Within 10 (ten) days from the date of receiving a written document accompanied by a complete relevant documents from the Credit Institution Supervision Department or the State Bank Branch on requesting opinions on dossiers for addition of operation contents to Licenses for activities of participating in the international payment system, the Anti-Money Laundering Department shall give specific written opinions on:

a) The fact that commercial banks and foreign bank branches have met the requirements for dossiers specified at Point dd(ii), Clause 2, Article 9 of this Circular for contents related to law regulations on money laundering, terrorism financing, and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction when participating international payment systems;

b) Contents related to policies and process for risk management of money laundering, terrorism financing, and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the explanatory report as prescribed at Point dd(vii), Clause 2, Article 9 of this Circular;

c) The consistency of the procedures for processing, switching, clearing, and settlement of international payment transactions of the commercial banks, foreign bank branches with the organization operating the international payment system regarding contents related to the law regulations on prevention and combat of money laundering, terrorism financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (if any).”.

Article 13. Amending and supplementing Article 26

“Article 26. Responsibility for implementation organization

Heads of units of the State Bank of Vietnam, commercial banks, foreign bank branches and foreign representative offices shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular./.”.

Article 14. Replacing a number of appendices issued together with Circular No. 34/2024/TT-NHNN

To replace Appendix 01, Appendix 02, Appendix 03 and Appendix 04 issued together with the Circular No. 34/2024/TT-NHNN with Appendix 01, Appendix 02, Appendix 03 and Appendix 04 issued together with this Circular.

Article 15. Implementation provisions

This Circular takes effect on February 15, 2026.

Article 16. Responsibility for implementation organization

Heads of units of the State Bank of Vietnam, commercial banks, foreign bank branches and foreign representative offices shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular./.

 * All Appendices are not translated herein.