Decree No. 15/2026/TT-NHNN Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of Several Circulars on Credit Cooperatives Concerning the Reduction, Delegation, and Simplification of Administrative Procedures

AMENDING AND ENRICHING CERTAIN ARTICLES OF

SEVERAL CIRCULARS ON THE FUNCTIONING AUTHORIZATION OF CREDIT COOPERATIVES RELEVANT TO

REDUCING, DELEGATING, SIMPLIFYING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

BASED ON

THE LAW OF VIETNAM NATIONAL BANK NO. 46/2010/QH12 BASED ON;

THE CREDIT INSTITUTIONS' LAW NO. 32/2024/QH15 AMENDED AND ENRICHED BY LAWS NO. 96/2025/QH15; BASED ON THE COOPERATIVE'S LAW NO. 17/2023/QH15;

BASED ON DECREE NO.

26/2025/NĐ-CP OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS REGULATING THE FUNCTION, MISSION, POWERS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE VIETNAM NATIONAL BANK ACCORDING TO THE PROPOSAL OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE CREDIT INSTITUTIONS' SYSTEM SAFETY DEPARTMENT;;

THE GOVERNOR OF THE VIETNAM NATIONAL BANK ISSUES THIS CIRCULAR

AMENDING AND ENRICHING CERTAIN ARTICLES OF SEVERAL CIRCULARS ON FUNCTIONING AUTHORIZATION OF CREDIT COOPERATIVES RELEVANT TO REDUCING, DELEGATING, SIMPLIFYING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.

CHAPTER I

AMENDING AND ENRICHING CERTAIN ARTICLES OF CIRCULAR NO. 01/2025/TT-NHNN REGULATING THE ISSUANCE AND ISSUE CHANGE OF PEOPLE'S CREDIT FUND LICENSES, WHICH IS AMENDED AND ENRICHED BY CIRCULAR NO. 63/2025/TT-NHNN

ARTICLE 1. AMENDMENT,ENRICHMENT, ABOLITION OF SOME POINTS, CLAUSES OF ARTICLE 8

1. ABOLISH POINT B, C OF CLAUSE 5.

2. Amend and enrich CLAUSE 7 AS FOLLOWS:

"7. A copy of the establishment decision or equivalent document (for members who are legal entities)."

ARTICLE 2. AMENDMENT,ENRICHMENT OF CLAUSE 1 OF ARTICLE 9

"1. The State Bank shall obtain necessary information from national databases and industry-specific databases when examining, reviewing information related to the business registration of members of people's credit funds that are legal entities; residence, criminal history, diplomas, certificates, professional credentials of personnel proposed for election or appointment as chairman and member of the board of directors, head and member of the audit committee, director of a people's credit fund. In case information cannot be obtained from national databases or industry-specific databases, or if the obtained information is incomplete, the State Bank shall request the preparatory body to provide additional documents, materials, or certification letters from competent authorities in accordance with the law to verify information related to business registration of members of people's credit funds that are legal entities; information on residence and diplomas of personnel proposed for election or appointment as chairman, member of the board of directors, head, member of the audit committee, director of a people's credit fund."

ARTICLE

B 3. ENRICHMENT OF CLAUSE INTO ARTICLE 18"8. Submit a request to the authority managing the database on criminal history for provision of relevant information on the criminal history of personnel proposed for election or appointment as chairman, member of the board of directors, head, member of the audit committee, director of a people's credit fund in accordance with the law in case information related to criminal history cannot be obtained from national databases or industry-specific databases, or if the obtained information is incomplete." 8 ARTICLE 4. AMENDMENT,

ENRICHMENT OF POINT 4 OF APPENDIX NO. 04

"4. Civil conduct capacity;

“Information on prohibition of holding office, establishment, management of enterprises, cooperatives (for cases where the criminal history certificate does not contain such information):"(5); information on prohibition of holding office, establishing or managing a business enterprise, cooperative (in the case where the criminal record certificate does not contain such information): (for cases where the criminal record certificate does not contain such information):

Chapter II

AMENDMENT AND ADDITION OF SEVERAL ARTICLES OF CIRCULAR NO. 53/2025/TT-NHNN REGULATING THE OPERATIONAL NETWORK OF CREDIT ORGANIZATIONS AS A COOPERATIVE SOCIETY

Article 5. Amendment,addition of several clauses

of Article 4

2. The Director of the Department of Supervision and Management of Credit Organizations shall:

a) Approve the establishment of a branch office of a cooperative bank;

b) Order the cessation of operations and liquidation of a branch office of a cooperative bank.

2. Amend and add clause a, b of paragraph 3 as follows:

“a) Approve the establishment of an agency or business unit; change the location of the head office, branch office, or branch of a cooperative bank within its jurisdiction (including cases where the location is changed before commencing operations);

b) Approve voluntary cessation of operations and liquidation of a branch, branch office; order the cessation of operations and liquidation of an agency, business unit of a cooperative bank;

Article 6. Abolish point b of paragraph 3 of Article 13

Article 7. Amendment,addition of

several

clauses

of Article 14

1. Amend and add clause 6 as follows:

“6. Within a period of thirty working days (for the case of establishing a branch) from the date of receipt of confirmation that all valid documents have been received in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 13 of this Circular, the People's Bank shall issue a written approval for the establishment of a branch of a cooperative bank according to the format specified in Appendix II attached hereto. In case of non-approval, the People's Bank shall send a written notice to the cooperative bank and specify the reasons.

Within a period of thirty working days (for the case of establishing a branch office) from the date of receipt of confirmation that all valid documents have been received in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 13 of this Circular, the Director of the Department of Supervision and Management of Credit Organizations shall issue a written approval for the establishment of a branch office of a cooperative bank according to the format specified in Appendix III attached hereto. In case of non-approval, the Director of the Department of Supervision and Management of Credit Organizations shall send a written notice to the cooperative bank and specify the reasons.

Within a period of ten working days (for the case of establishing an agency or business unit) from the date of receipt of confirmation that all valid documents have been received in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 13 of this Circular, the Regional Branch of the People's Bank shall issue a written approval for the establishment of an agency or business unit of a cooperative bank according to the format specified in Appendix III attached hereto. In case of non-approval, the Regional Branch of the People's Bank shall send a written notice to the cooperative bank and specify the reasons. 82. Amend and add clause 7 as follows:“7. Within twelve months from the date of issuance of approval for establishment under Paragraph 6 of this Article, the cooperative bank must commence operations at the branch, branch office, agency or business unit. Failure to do so within this period shall result in the automatic expiration of the approval. Article

. Amendment,

Article 9. Amendment and Supplement to Article 26

“Article 26. Mandatory Termination of Operations, Dissolution of Branches, Trading Posts, Representative Offices, and Units of Cooperative Banks

1. A branch, trading post, representative office, or unit of a cooperative bank shall be ordered to terminate its operations and dissolve when any of the following circumstances occur:

a) There is evidence proving that the application documents for establishing a branch, trading post, representative office, or unit contain false information leading to an inaccurate assessment of compliance with the conditions for establishing such entities of a cooperative bank;

b) The location of the head office of the branch or trading post has been changed without written approval;

c) Operations are conducted outside the scope and area permitted by law.

2. Upon discovering any case as stipulated in paragraph 1, the People's Bank of China Inspectorate, or the People's Bank of China Regional Office where the head office of the branch or trading post is located (hereinafter referred to as "the relevant regional office"), shall submit a written report to the Governor of the People's Bank of China (in cases of termination and dissolution of branches) or send a letter to the Department of Supervision and Management of Financial Institutions (in cases of termination and dissolution of trading posts), requesting the cooperative bank to terminate its operations and dissolve the branch or trading post, specifying the reasons for such request.

3. Within fifteen working days from the date of receipt of the written report requesting the termination and dissolution of a branch or trading post as stipulated in paragraph 2, or during the supervision process when discovering any case as specified in paragraph 1, the Department of Supervision and Management of Financial Institutions shall issue a written request (in cases of termination and dissolution of trading posts) or submit a report to the Governor of the People's Bank of China (in cases of termination and dissolution of branches), requesting the cooperative bank to terminate its operations and dissolve the branch or trading post.

4. Upon discovering any case as stipulated in paragraph 1, the People's Bank of China Inspectorate or the Department of Supervision and Management of Financial Institutions shall send a written report to the relevant regional office of the People's Bank of China where the representative office or unit of the cooperative bank is located, requesting the termination and dissolution of such representative office or unit, specifying the reasons for such request.

5. Within fifteen working days from the date of receipt of the written report requesting the termination and dissolution of a representative office or unit as stipulated in paragraph 4, or during the management process when discovering any case as specified in paragraph 1, the relevant regional office of the People's Bank of China shall issue a written request to the cooperative bank to terminate its operations and dissolve the representative office or unit.

6. Within ninety days from the date of the People's Bank of China's written request for the termination and dissolution of branches, trading posts, representative offices, or units as stipulated in paragraphs 3 and 5, the cooperative bank shall complete the termination and dissolution procedures for such entities; submit a written report to the People's Bank of China (in cases of termination and dissolution of branches, trading posts), or to the relevant regional office of the People's Bank of China (in cases of termination and dissolution of representative offices, units) specifying the specific time and results of the termination and dissolution.

7. Within twelve months from the date of the People's Bank of China's written request for the mandatory termination and dissolution of branches as stipulated in paragraphs 3 and 5, the cooperative bank shall formulate a plan to handle the trading posts under its management to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Circular.”

Article 10. Amendment and Supplement to Clause 4 of Article 45

“4. Within a period of three working days from the date when the Branch Office of the State Bank in the Region has a memorandum confirming that the cooperative bank has met the conditions as stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 15, Clause 7 of this Circular or has an approval document, request document according to Clauses 6 of Article 14, Clauses 2 of Article 25, and Clauses 5 of Article 26 of this Circular, or from the date when it receives a notification or report from the cooperative bank as provided in this Circular, the Branch Office of the State Bank in the Region shall issue a document to the State Bank informing on the following contents:

a) The opening of the branch office, business outlet, representative office, and public institution;

b) Changes in name or location of the branch office, business outlet, representative office, and public institution;

c) Voluntary termination of operations and liquidation of the branch office, business outlet, representative office, and public institution;

d) Establishment of a representative office and public institution;

d) Compulsory termination of operations and liquidation of the representative office and public institution.”

Article 11. Amendment and Supplement to Point d of Clause 1 of Article 46

“d) Provide the document approving the establishment of a branch or business outlet as provided in Article 14 of this Circular within two working days from the date of receipt of such approval for submission to the Branch Office of the State Bank in the Region where the cooperative bank intends to establish its branch or business outlet, for notification to the relevant business registration authority;”

Article 12. Tor other phrases, including

1. Replace the phrase “Clause 4 of Article 26” with “Clause 6 of Article 26” in Clause 4 of Article 29.

2. Replace Annex I and Annex III attached to Circular No. 53/2025/TT-NHNN with Annex I and Annex III attached to this Circular.

Chapter III

AMENDMENT AND SUPPLEMENT TO SEVERAL ARTICLES OF CIRCULAR NO. 73/2025/TT-NHNN REGULATING THE PROCEDURE, ORDER, APPROVAL FOR CHANGES, LIST OF PROPOSED APPOINTMENTS AND REMOVALS OF PERSONNEL OF CREDIT ORGANIZATIONS

Article 13. Amendment and Supplement to Point c of Clause 1 of Article 6

“c) Documentation or records proving that the credit organization is a cooperative society with lawful right to use or own the premises at the new location in accordance with relevant laws.

For documentation or records proving that the credit organization is a cooperative society with lawful right to use or own the premises at the new location, if such documentation or records are a Land Use Right Certificate and data information about said certificate contained in the national land database, the credit organization as a cooperative society shall supplement the information on the code of the Land Use Right Certificate and data information about said certificate in the document requesting as provided in Point a of this clause. In this case, the credit organization as a cooperative society does not need to submit the Land Use Right Certificate and data information about said certificate.

If the State Bank is unable to access such information from the national land database or if the accessed information is incomplete or inaccurate, the State Bank requests the credit organization as a cooperative society to submit a copy of the Land Use Right Certificate and data information about said certificate.”

Article 14. Abolition of Point d Clause 1 Article 8

Article 15. Amendment and Supplement to Point b Clause 2 Article 9

“b) Within a period of twenty days from the date of receipt of a complete application, the State Bank issues a Decision amending and supplementing the License for the operational period of the credit cooperative organization. In case of refusal, the State Bank shall reply in writing and specify the reasons.”

Article 16. Amendment, Supplement, and Abolition of Certain Points of Article 13

1. Abolition of Point d Clause 1.

2. Amendment and supplement to Point e Clause 1 as follows:

“e) Educational certificates and professional qualifications of the personnel proposed for election or appointment shall be certified by an educational institution abroad, which are recognized in writing by a competent authority of Vietnam under relevant laws (if applicable);”

3. Amendment and supplement to Point a Clause 4 as follows:

“a) Not less than forty days before the scheduled meeting of members or the Board of Directors for appointment (including cases where hiring is involved), the credit cooperative organization shall prepare the application in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article and submit it to the State Bank.

The State Bank shall access necessary information from national databases and specialized industry databases when reviewing and assessing relevant information regarding residence, criminal history, educational certificates, professional qualifications, and other credentials of personnel proposed for election or appointment by the credit cooperative organization.

In case such information cannot be accessed from national or specialized industry databases, or if the information obtained is incomplete, the State Bank shall request the credit cooperative organization to provide additional documents, records, or certification letters from a competent authority as required under relevant laws to substantiate information regarding residence and educational certificates of personnel proposed.”

Article 17. Addition of Clause 7 to Article 15

“7. A request for the data management agency of criminal history to provide related information on the criminal history of the personnel proposed for election or appointment in a credit cooperative bank, as provided by law, in cases where such relevant information cannot be accessed from national or specialized industry databases, or if the obtained information is incomplete.”

Article 18. Addition of Clause 10 to Article 16

“10. A request for the data management agency of criminal history to provide related information on the criminal history of the personnel proposed for election or appointment in a people’s credit fund, as provided by law, in cases where such relevant information cannot be accessed from national or specialized industry databases, or if the obtained information is incomplete.”

Chapter IV

CONDITIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Article 19. Implementation Conditions

This Circular shall come into force on May 19, 2026.

Article 20. Responsibilities for Implementation

The heads of units under the State Bank of Vietnam, credit cooperatives, and people’s credit funds are responsible for implementing this Circular./.

APPENDIX I

MODEL LETTER FOR APPROVAL OF BRANCH, SALES OFFICE, REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE, AND ENTERPRISE UNIT OF CREDIT COOPERATIVE
(Issued with Circular No. 15/2026/TT-NHNN dated 19/5/2026 by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam)

 

LETTER FOR APPROVAL OF BRANCH, SALES OFFICE, REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE, AND ENTERPRISE UNIT OF CREDIT COOPERATIVE

To: State Bank of Vietnam/Department of Supervision and Management of Credit Institutions/State Bank Branch in the Region…

Credit cooperative:

- Full name in Vietnamese:

- Abbreviated name in Vietnamese (if any):

- Full name in foreign language (if any):

- Abbreviated name in foreign language (if any):

- Cooperative registration number:

- Organizational identification code (if any):

- Principal office address:

- Telephone number:

- Email address:

Requesting the State Bank of Vietnam/Department of Supervision and Management of Credit Institutions/State Bank Branch in the Region to consider and approve the establishment of a branch, sales office, representative office, or enterprise unit as follows:

I. Proposed Network Units

1. Establishment of a branch:

1.1. Name of the branch:

a) Full name in Vietnamese:

b) Abbreviated name in Vietnamese (if any):

c) Full name in foreign language (if any):

d) Abbreviated name in foreign language (if any):

1.2. Location of the branch office:

2. Establishment of a sales office:

2.1. Name of the sales office:

a) Full name in Vietnamese:

b) Abbreviated name in Vietnamese (if any):

c) Full name in foreign language (if any):

d) Abbreviated name in foreign language (if any):

2.2. Location of the sales office office:

2.3. Name and location of the branch managing the sales office:

3. Establishment of a representative office or enterprise unit:

3.1. Name of the representative office or enterprise unit:

a) Full name in Vietnamese:

b) Abbreviated name in Vietnamese (if any):

c) Full name in foreign language (if any):

d) Abbreviated name in foreign language (if any):

3.2. Location of the representative office or enterprise unit:

3.3. Scope of operations:

3.4. Reasons for establishment:

3.5. Business plan for the first three years.

II. Evaluation of Credit Cooperative’s Compliance with Each Condition to Establish a Branch, Sales Office, Representative Office, or Enterprise Unit as per the Provisions of this Circular

1. Adhered to all relevant provisions on asset classification, provisioning methods and amounts for risk mitigation, and use of provisions to manage risks in operations over the past twelve months; as of December 31 of the year preceding the application date, and at the end of the month immediately prior to the application date:

a. Ensure ☐ b. Not ensure ☐

- Non-performing loan ratio as of December 31, ... is …%.

- Non-performing loan ratio as of ... is …%.

2. Structure and operations of the governance and management machinery, Supervisory Board, internal audit system; internal control system; credit granting activities; safety limits and ratios to ensure compliance with the Law on Credit Organizations and directives of the State Bank within the last 12 months prior to the date of application:

a. Ensure ☐ b. Not ensure ☐

3. Net profit after tax for the year ... as per audited financial statements: ...

4. Does not fall under entities subject to measures prohibiting expansion of the network:

a. Ensure ☐ b. Not ensure ☐

5. Meets the conditions regarding the number of branches and business offices allowed to be established as per Circular:

a. Ensure ☐ b. Not ensure ☐

6. In case of establishment of a branch office:

a. Ensure ☐ b. Not ensure ☐

- Evaluation by the cooperative bank regarding the branch to be managed by the branch office.

III. The lawful representative of the cooperative bank commits:: Assumes responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of the information provided in this document./.

 

APPENDIX III

MODEL DECISION ON APPROVAL FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF BRANCH OFFICE, BUSINESS PREMISES, OR ENTERPRISE UNIT OF A COOPERATIVE BANK
(Issued in conjunction with Circular No. 15/2026/TT-NHNN dated 19/5/2026 of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam)

 

DIRECTOR OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE BRANCH OFFICE IN THE REGION…

Based on... (1);

Upon consideration of the application for approval to establish a branch office, business premises, or enterprise unit at document number ... dated ... month ... year ... from the cooperative bank and the attached files;In accordance with the request... (2).

DECISION:

Approves the establishment of a branch office, business premises, or enterprise unit...

DIRECTOR OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE BRANCH OFFICE IN THE REGION…

DECISION:

Article 1.Approval of the establishment of cooperative bank branches, representative offices, and public institutions is as follows:

1. Name of the branch, representative office, or public institution:

a) Full name in Vietnamese:

b) Abbreviated name in Vietnamese (if applicable):

c) Full name in foreign language (if applicable):

d) Abbreviated name in foreign language (if applicable):

2. Location of the branch, representative office, or public institution's premises:

Article 2.This decision shall take effect from [date] [month] [year].

Article 3The cooperative bank responsible for implementing this decision is as follows: (3)