Intensifying the supervision, inspection, adjustment and handling of violations in foreign currency purchases and sales, in order to manage well foreign exchange business and stabilize the monetary market in general, is one of the central solutions of State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) at present.
To strictly manage foreign currency trading activities
Binh Duong is a province with fast socio-economic development pace, which is also an attractive locality for domestic and foreign investments. This fact means that the demand for foreign currency transactions of enterprises, units and individuals in the province is quite large.
According to recommendations, people need to trade foreign currency at banks or foreign exchange licensed by SBV. In photo: A gold trading transaction at Kim Hoa gold shop.
Nguyen Phu Cuong, Deputy Director of SBV - Binh Duong branch, said that foreign exchange had an important role in the national and provincial economy. Due to affects of the gloomy world economy, along with the gold, real estate, and securities market, foreign exchange market have fluctuated continuously, affected the national economy. According to this common trend, Binh Duong is not a big market, but is also damaged in terms of production and business activities of import-export enterprises.
Therefore, to well manage foreign exchange activities in the province, SBV - Binh Duong branch implemented many solutions to manage foreign currency trading of credit institutions to create good conditions for Vietnamese individuals, enterprises as well as citizens to buy foreign currencies in cash to meet production and business demands and other expenditures.
Recently, under the direction of SBV on checking and adjusting foreign exchange activities, SBV Binh Duong Branch cooperated with provincial Market Management Department, Police... to inspect buying and selling foreign currencies at some gold shops, listing prices in some establishments involving foreign currency trades and transactions in the province. According to the examination’s result, foreign currency business establishments in the area have well complied with regulations of the State, banking sector, had no illegal trades of foreign currencies. The listing and advertising of goods and services in foreign currencies as well as trading in VND, such as car sales, licensed credit institutions, has been seriously implemented at other organizations.
To strictly handle violations
According to SBV, at the end of the year, illegal buying and selling of foreign currencies is complicated, affecting the enforcement of foreign exchange policy. Currently, the purchase of foreign currencies on the free market is a underground transaction, so it is difficult to catch these illegal foreign currency transactions. In fact, the existence of the free foreign currency market parallel to the official market and the spread of false rumors have created psychological anxieties for the people. This situation caused many times that exchange rates on the free market was significantly different from rates of the official market, causing market speculation and manipulation.
In addition, the complicated and unstable situation of the foreign currency and gold market in recent years has caused some organizations and individuals to accumulate foreign currencies and conduct illegal foreign currency trading, leading to market manipulation; at the same time, they also spread false rumors to cause anxieties, affecting the currency market. Therefore, SBV - Binh Duong Branch disseminated widely policies and regulations on foreign exchange activities so that agencies, units and individuals are aware of the purposes and meanings of the policies, thereby limiting and eliminating dollarization in the economy.
SBV Binh Duong Branch asked credit institutions with authorized foreign currency trading services to facilitate customers, on the basis of examining customer’s purposes and demands for using foreign currencies. On the other hand, SBV is considering expanding and opening foreign currency exchange counters in many locations, if there is a high demand for foreign currency exchange. In the coming time, SBV will continue to set up inter-agency inspection teams including police, customs, market management and SBV to inspect and supervise establishments not licensed to foreign currency exchange.
According to SBV Binh Duong Branch, the people should come directly to banks or foreign currency exchange agents licensed by SBV to avoid violations of regulations. Any detected violations of foreign currency trading or listing, advertising goods or services in foreign currencies, shall be sanctioned according to Point a, Clause 3, Article 24, Section 7, Chapter II of Decree No. 96 of the Government stipulating a fine of VND80 - 100 million at a organization, which is not allowed to exchange foreign currencies.
The above activities are aimed at step by step adjusting foreign exchange activities of market participants, contributing to the establishment of market order, strengthening the enforcement of laws, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management in foreign exchange field.
Reported by Thanh Hong – Translated by Ngoc Huynh
