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Tue, 03/05/2024 - 09:32
Submitted by nhathong on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 15:17
Many jewellery shops and travel companies in Ho Chi Minh City are likely to be banned from exchanging foreign currencies under a new central bank rule, and banks have been told to submit a list of their foreign exchange agents who cannot meet the new requirements.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) now requires forex agents to be located in places where there are many foreign tourists – like near three – and five-star hotels and airline booking offices and in tourism areas, shopping malls, and international border gates.

Nguyen Thi Minh Lan, director of the SBV’s Foreign Exchange Management Department in HCM City, said most jewellery shops in the city would become ineligible since they were not located in such areas.

The central bank also requires shops to have separate counters for forex and gold transactions.

Several travel companies recently petitioned to keep their forex services but the SBV rejected their demand, saying their transactions with foreigners should be through transfers rather than cash, while tourists could exchange money at their hotels.

The SBV had instructed commercial banks to send a list of forex agents failing to meet the new requirement by the end of last month.

The banks will have to liquidate their old contracts with forex agents and sign new ones now.

Lan said the central bank had terminated about 600 contracts in HCM City. Around 30 parties have applied for licences under the new regulation, but only nine have got it.

The SBV has also ordered commercial banks to closely monitor their forex agents, saying they would be punished for any violations by their agents.

Shops caught trading without a licence would hereafter be fined VND45-75 million.

Currently, many jewellery shops, both with and without forex permits, trade foreign currencies openly. Customers can easily buy large amounts of foreign money at these shops without, unlike at banks, having to show the purpose for which they need them.

VOVNews/VNA

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