The Ministry of Finance will start restructuring the insurance market this year, with an aim to promote the development of healthy insurers and consolidating weaker firms as part of the drive to stabilize the financial market. The ministry is compiling a set of criteria to assess and categorize insurance companies into four groups, with specific management and supervision measures for each group. The... 

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is ready to submit to the Government a scheme on mobilizing gold from citizens to prevent speculation, stabilize the market, regulate local prices and facilitate the economic development. This was given by Governor Nguyen Van Binh in an interview with Vietnam News Agency on the central bank’s website on Monday. According to SBV’s assessment, citizens possess a large... 

Foreign tourists will be entitled to value added tax (VAT) refunds on goods they purchase in Vietnam when leaving the country via Hanoi City’s Noi Bai Airport and HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat Airport. Under a decision issued by the Prime Minister, this trial VAT refund will be implemented from July 2012 to June 30, 2014. Previously, the scheduled time for VAT refunds has been projected between April 2012... 

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will further restrict the import of luxury goods this year in a move to keep the trade deficit at roughly US$13 billion. Products subject to import restriction will include consumer goods, motorbikes, and vehicles with fewer than nine seats. The ministry has said it will try to limit these types of goods to 5.4 per cent of the country’s total import value,... 

The central bank’s bank inspection and supervision agency will issue credit ratings for local credit institutions and foreign bank branches in a bid to ensure transparency in banking sector operations. The rating results will be publicized to create a foundation to determine credit growth quotas on the basis that banks with high operational efficiency will be assigned with higher credit growth targets... 

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will roll up its sleeves to address liquidity problems at small banks right in this quarter as this is the greatest challenge facing the banking industry, Governor Nguyen Van Binh said on Wednesday. “One of the key problems of the banking system is liquidity. The central bank will focus on solving this problem,” Binh said at the Vietnam Summit 2012 held in Hanoi... 

The government has required the State Bank of Vietnam to ensure its draft decree on gold trading with the State’s monopoly on gold bullion production as well as the export and import of gold material for production, according to a resolution issued at the government’s monthly meeting in December. The resolution dictates that the decree recognize and protect the legal gold ownership of organizations... 

A draft decree on non-cash payment mapped out by the central bank to replace the prevailing Decree 64/2001 on payment service providers is set to go before the Government early this year. This is the first time related sides involved in intermediary payment activities has been officially mentioned in a legal document. Duong Hong Phuong, deputy head of Payment Department at the central bank, said that... 

Vietnam-based car-makers are feeling the heat after Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City lifted automobile ownership registration tax rates. These higher fees are part of the cities’ efforts to reduce chronic traffic congestion but industry players are crying foul. Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) general director Akito Tachibana, who is also chairman of Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA), told... 

Tax compliance will be observed more strictly given the recent changes in Vietnam’s tax policy, said experts of Deloitte at a recent seminar. The Government is targeting a State budget revenue rise of 7% for this year. Furthermore, following the country’s tax system reform strategy for the 2011-2020 period, the domestic tax revenue would account for more than 70% of the total State budget revenue...