Circular No. 14/2021/TT-NHNN amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN dated March 13, 2020, issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on the restructuring of debt repayment terms, interest and fee waivers, and maintenance of loan classification for customers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN dated March 13, 2020 issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on restructuring repayment terms, waiving, reducing interest and fees, maintaining the classification of debts to support customers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

February 17, 2017

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN dated March 13, 2020 issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on restructuring repayment terms, waiving, reducing interest and fees, maintaining the classification of debts to support customers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN).

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN

"Article 4. Restructuring repayment terms

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Pursuant to the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam dated June 16, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on Credit Institutions dated June 16, 2010; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Law on Credit Institutions dated November 20, 2017;

Decree No. 16/2017/NĐ-CP dated Credit institutions, foreign bank branches restructure repayment terms for the principal balance and/or interest of a debt (including debts within the scope of adjustment under Decree No. 55/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 9, 2015 of the Government on credit policies to serve the development of agriculture and rural areas (as amended and supplemented)) when meeting all of the following conditions: of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

After reaching consensus with the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of Banking Inspection and Supervision;

1. Arising before August 1, 2021 from lending or leasing activities. 

2. Arising payment obligations for principal and/or interest during the period from January 23, 2020 to June 30, 2022.

a) Amending and supplementing Point c Clause 2 as follows:

3. The outstanding balance of the debt being restructured falls under one of the following cases:

a) The outstanding balance is still within the due date or overdue up to 10 days from the due date, repayment term according to the contract or agreement, except for the cases provided for in points b, c, and d of this Clause;

b) The outstanding balance of the debt arising before January 23, 2020 and overdue during the period from January 23, 2020 to March 29, 2020;

c) The outstanding balance of the debt arising from January 23, 2020 to June 10, 2020 and overdue before May 17, 2021;

d) The outstanding balance of the debt arising from June 10, 2020 to July 31, 2021 and overdue from July 17, 2021 to September 7, 2021.

4. Being assessed by credit institutions, foreign bank branches that the customer does not have the ability to repay the principal and/or interest on time according to the contract or agreement due to reduced revenue and income caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

5. The customer requests restructuring of the repayment term and credit institutions, foreign bank branches assess that the customer has the ability to fully repay the principal and/or interest according to the restructured repayment term.

7. The restructuring period (including extensions) is appropriate to the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the customer and does not exceed 12 months from the date the credit institution, foreign bank branch implements the restructuring of the repayment term or from the due date of each outstanding balance being restructured.

8. The implementation of restructuring the repayment term for customers shall be carried out until June 30, 2022."

"Article 5. Waiving, reducing interest and fees

1. Credit institutions, foreign bank branches decide to waive or reduce interest and fees according to their internal regulations for the outstanding balance of a debt arising before August 1, 2021 from credit activities (excluding the purchase, investment in corporate bonds) with payment obligations for principal and/or interest due for payment during the period from January 23, 2020 to June 30, 2022 and the customer does not have the ability to repay the principal and/or interest on time according to the contract or agreement due to reduced revenue and income caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

6. Credit institutions and foreign bank branches shall not restructure the repayment terms for debts that violate legal provisions.

2. The implementation of waiving, reducing interest and fees for customers according to this Circular shall be carried out until June 30, 2022."

3. Amending and supplementing Clause 2 of Article 6 of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN (amended and supplemented by Clause 4 of Article 1 of Circular No. 03/2021/TT-NHNN dated April 2, 2021 issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN) as follows:

2. Amending and supplementing Clause 5 as follows:

"2. Credit institutions, foreign bank branches may maintain the classification of debts already classified according to the regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam on classifying debts in the operation of credit institutions, foreign bank branches for the outstanding balance being restructured repayment terms, waiving, reducing interest as stipulated in Article 4 and Article 5 of this Circular for debts arising from January 23, 2020 to July 31, 2021 as follows:

a) Maintaining the classification at the most recent date prior to the first restructuring of the repayment term for the outstanding balance specified in point a of Clause 3 of Article 4 of this Circular;

b) Maintaining the classification at the most recent date prior to the debt becoming overdue for the outstanding balance specified in points c and d of Clause 3 of Article 4 of this Circular;

c) Maintaining the classification at the most recent date prior to the first waiver or reduction of interest for the outstanding balance specified in Article 5 of this Circular."

"2. Credit institutions and foreign bank branches may retain the original loan classification group according to the State Bank of Vietnam's regulations on loan classification in the operation of credit institutions and foreign bank branches for the outstanding debt restructured under the provisions of Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular, arising from January 23, 2020 to before August 1, 2021, as follows:

a) Retain the original loan classification group at the nearest point in time prior to the first implementation of debt repayment term restructuring as stipulated in Point a, Clause 3, Article 4 of this Circular;

b) Retain the original loan classification group at the nearest point in time prior to the date when the debt became overdue as stipulated in Points c and d, Clause 3, Article 4 of this Circular;

c) Retain the original loan classification group at the nearest point in time prior to the first implementation of interest reduction as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular."

Article 2. Replacing the Appendix of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN

Replace the Appendix issued together with Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN with the Appendix issued together with this Circular.

Article 3. Implementation Organization

The Director of the Office, the Head of the Banking Inspection Department, the Heads of units under the State Bank of Vietnam, credit institutions, and foreign bank branches are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular.

Article 4. Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from September 7, 2021.

2. This Circular abolishes Clause 2, Clause 3, and Clause 6 of Article 1 of Circular No. 03/2021/TT-NHNN dated April 2, 2021, issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 01/2020/TT-NHNN./.