Simplifying 12 administrative procedures under the management of the State Bank of Vietnam

Specifically, Decision No. 381/QD-TTg cuts and simplifies 12 administrative procedures in the following 4 business groups: Business activities of commercial banks; business activities of non-bank credit institutions; business activities of cooperative banks, people's credit funds, microfinance institutions; and overseas investment activities.

Major shareholders do not have to carry out procedures to approve the purchase, sale, or transfer of shares.

In particular, for administrative procedures approving the purchase, sale, and transfer of shares by major shareholders; purchasing, selling, and transferring shares leading to becoming major shareholders of commercial banks, the content of the reduction and simplification is to abolish the requirement for major shareholders to carry out procedures approving the purchase, sale, and transfer of shares.

The above abolition aims to help reduce time and costs, creating convenience for subjects carrying out administrative procedures who are major shareholders when buying, selling, and transferring shares; at the same time, the reduction content is also consistent with the provisions in Point d, Clause 1, Article 37 of the Law on Credit Institutions 2024 (which abolished the regulation that the State Bank of Vietnam approves the buying, selling, and transferring of shares of major shareholders of credit institutions and foreign bank branches).

Abolish some procedures

At the same time, Decision No. 381/QD-TTg also abolished a number of administrative procedures.

Procedures for approving the purchase, sale, and transfer of shares of major shareholders and the buyer and transferee expected to be common shareholders; purchase, sale, and transfer of shares leading to major shareholders becoming common shareholders of non-bank credit institutions are abolished to reduce time and costs, creating convenience for the implementing subjects.

Abolish the procedures for converting the Central People's Credit Fund and granting licenses to establish cooperative banks; the procedures for granting licenses to establish and operate cooperative banks for the following reasons: Cooperative banks are banks of all people's credit funds, established by people's credit funds and a number of other legal entities with the main goal of linking the system, providing financial support, and regulating capital in the people's credit fund system. Up to now, cooperative banks have been established on the basis of conversion from the Central People's Credit Fund and are the only bank of people's credit funds. Therefore, there is only one cooperative bank at present and will no longer issue licenses to establish new cooperative banks.

The registration procedure for implementing the overseas share award program with participants being Vietnamese nationals has also been abolished, helping to reduce time and costs, creating convenience for the implementation subjects. At the same time, the abolition is consistent with the Project on the roadmap for liberalization of capital transactions in Vietnam approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1590/QD-TTg dated August 11, 2016.