Strengthening Exchange to Combat Financial Crimes

Close coordination between the Department of Vietnam Customs and the Anti-Money Laundering Department under the State Bank of Vietnam has helped detect and handle numerous major money-laundering cases. Recently, the two agencies signed a new coordination regulation aligned with their current organizational structures to strengthen information exchange and improve the prevention and control of financial crimes.

Vietnamese customs officers tighten inspections

Effective cooperation supporting smuggling investigations

On September 9, 2022, the General Department of Vietnam Customs (now the Department of Vietnam Customs) and the Banking Supervision Agency under the State Bank of Vietnam signed Regulation 3035/QCPH-CQTTGSNH-TCHQ on information exchange and coordination. This served as an important legal foundation for cooperation in preventing money laundering, smuggling, and the illegal cross-border transport of goods, cash, precious metals, and negotiable instruments.

After more than three years of implementation, Regulation 3035 has delivered practical results. During the handling of suspicious transaction reports, the Anti-Money Laundering Department transferred valuable information to the customs authority for investigation and verification and also provided additional documents upon request.

Since September 2022, the Department of Vietnam Customs has sent more than 90 official requests to the Anti-Money Laundering Department seeking transaction information related to import–export enterprises. Of these, over 78 responses contained valuable data that directly supported investigations into smuggling and illegal cross-border transfers.

This cooperation has led to the detection and handling of several serious cases. One example is Phu Cuong Gold Joint Stock Company, which was found to have falsified documents to transfer large sums of money abroad. The case was referred to the Investigation Security Agency under the Ministry of Public Security for further action. Similarly, Tan Dai Duong Import-Export Trading and Services Co., Ltd. was discovered to have falsified customs declarations to illegally transfer more than US$2 million overseas, and its case was also transferred to the ministry’s Investigation Security Department.

These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the coordination mechanism and provide a solid foundation for upgrading and refining the new regulation in line with current organizational structures.

Aligned with new organizational structures

In line with Resolution 18-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017, of the Party Central Committee on streamlining and improving the efficiency of the state apparatus, the Ministry of Finance issued several decisions restructuring the General Department of Vietnam Customs into the Department of Vietnam Customs, including Decision 382/QD-BTC dated February 26, 2025, as amended and supplemented by Decision 1892/QD-BTC dated May 30, 2025, and Decision 2019/QD-BTC dated June 11, 2025.

Under Government Decree 146/2024/ND-CP dated November 6, 2024, effective January 5, 2025, the Anti-Money Laundering Department became a unit directly under the State Bank of Vietnam, instead of the Banking Supervision Agency as before.

Based on this framework, the two agencies developed and signed Regulation 2130/QC-PCRT-CHQ on information exchange and coordination, replacing Regulation 3035. The new regulation includes three chapters and ten articles detailing the scope of application, coordination principles, confidentiality requirements, and data exchange procedures and timelines. The regulation took effect on September 10, 2025.

Immediately after the signing, the Department of Vietnam Customs directed the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department and its affiliated units to implement the regulation, ensuring that information exchange is conducted promptly, fully, and accurately.

The signing of Regulation 2130/QC-PCRT-CHQ reflects the strong commitment of the finance and banking sectors to enhance coordination and strengthen the effectiveness of efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, smuggling, and the illegal cross-border movement of goods, cash, precious metals, gemstones, and negotiable instruments.

This collaboration helps improve the capacity to detect and handle illicit financial flows, safeguard national financial and monetary security, and actively support investigations and anti-smuggling efforts amid increasingly complex global trade activities.

By Thanh Nam, Vietnam Business Forum