Decision No. 1913/2005/QD-NHNN on Issuing Accounting Document Storage Regulations in the Banking Sector

Pursuant to …;

Regarding the issuance of Accounting Document Storage Regulations in the Banking Sector

GOVERNOR OF THE STATE BANK OF VIETNAM

Pursuant to the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam No. 01/1997/QH10 dated December 12, 1997 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam No. 10/2003/QH11 dated June 17, 2003;

Pursuant to the Law on Credit Organizations No. 02/1997/QH10 dated December 12, 1997 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Credit Organizations No. 20/2004/QH11 dated June 15, 2003;

Pursuant to the Law on Accounting No. 03/2003/QH11 dated June 17, 2003.

Pursuant to the Ordinance on National Archives No. 34/2001/PL-UBTVQH10 dated April 4, 2001 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

Pursuant to Decree No. 52/2003/ND-CP dated May 19, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the State Bank;

Pursuant to Decree No. 128/2004/ND-CP dated May 31, 2004 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Accounting applicable in state accounting;

Pursuant to Decree No. 129/2004/ND-CP dated May 31, 2004 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Accounting applicable in business operations;

Considering the proposal of the Director of the Accounting and Finance Department;

DECISION:

Article 1. The Accounting Document Storage Regulations in the Banking Sector are hereby promulgated together with this Decision.

Article 2. This Decision shall take effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette and shall replace Decision No. 63/QD-NH2 dated March 22, 1997 of the Governor of the State Bank on the preservation of accounting vouchers of the State Bank.

Article 3. The Heads of the Office, Directors of the Accounting and Finance Department, Heads of units under the State Bank, Governors of State Bank branches in provinces and centrally-administered cities, Chairmen of Management Boards, General Managers (Directors) of credit organizations, Representative Offices of foreign credit organizations, and non-credit organizations engaging in banking activities are responsible for implementing this Decision.

REGULATIONS ON THE STORAGE OF ACCOUNTING DOCUMENTS

IN THE BANKING SECTOR

(Issued pursuant to Decision No. 1913/2005/QD-NHNN

dated December 30, 2005 of the Governor of the State Bank)

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

These regulations govern the storage of accounting documents in the banking sector. Accounting documents under these regulations are materials reflecting the financial situation and economic and financial activities of each bank from headquarters to branches, serving as tools for monitoring, supervising, and analyzing the economic and financial activities of each bank, each banking system, including:

1. Accounting vouchers

2. Detailed accounting ledgers, consolidated accounting ledgers

3. Financial reports, management accounting reports

4. Other accounting-related documents not specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article, including: various contracts, documents related to expenses, capital, funds; documents related to tax obligations to the State; documents related to asset inventory and valuation; documents related to inspection, audit, and supervision; documents related to dissolution, bankruptcy, division, merger, cessation of operations, change in ownership form; minutes of accounting document destruction and other related documents.

Article 2. Applicability

The entities subject to these regulations include:

1. The State Bank of Vietnam;

2. Credit organizations permitted to operate in Vietnam;

3. Representative offices of foreign credit organizations;

4. Non-credit organizations engaging in banking activities;

(hereinafter referred to as Banks).

Article 3. Accounting documents are presented in electronic data form.

Accounting documents specified in Article 2, if presented in electronic data form, must be recorded on storage media such as magnetic tapes, floppy disks, various types of payment cards, and must be classified and arranged according to the provisions of Clause 6 of this Regulation. The preservation and storage of accounting documents presented in electronic data form must comply with current state and industry regulations regarding the preservation and storage of electronic data.

Article 4. Organization for storing accounting documents.

Accounting documents stored must be original copies or certified true copies as stipulated in Article 16 of this System and must be properly preserved and safely kept during use and storage. The legal representative of the Bank shall be responsible for organizing the preservation and storage of accounting documents to ensure their safety, completeness, and legality.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 5. Retention period for accounting documents.

Minimum retention type: 5 years.

Minimum retention type: 10 years.

Permanent retention type.

Article 6. Classification of accounting documents.

After use, accounting documents must be transferred entirely to the accountant in charge to complete the procedures for preserving accounting documents. When receiving the documents, the person in charge of preserving accounting documents must review the accounting documents again and ensure that all accounting documents are fully collected and proceed to classify the accounting documents according to the retention period:

1. Minimum retention type of 5 years, including:

a) Accounting documents used for regular management and operation of the Bank not directly used to record in accounting books and prepare financial statements, to be retained for a minimum of 5 years from the end of the annual accounting period, such as receipts, payments, inventory entry, inventory exit documents not included in the accounting document set of the accounting department.

b) Other accounting documents used for management and operation and other accounting vouchers not directly recorded in accounting books and preparing financial statements.

2. Minimum retention type of 10 years, including:

a) Accounting vouchers used directly to record in accounting books and prepare financial statements, detailed schedules, summary tables, detailed accounting books, consolidated accounting books, monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports of the Bank, final settlement reports, destruction records of stored accounting documents, and other documents related to recording in accounting books and preparing financial statements, including audit reports and accounting inspection reports.

b) Accounting documents related to the liquidation of fixed assets.

c) Accounting documents of annual accounting periods and accounting documents about the final settlement report of investment capital of completed projects managed by the project management board, the main investors (not belonging to Group A projects).

d) Accounting documents related to the establishment, division, separation, merger, consolidation, conversion of ownership form, dissolution, cessation of operations, bankruptcy of the Bank.

đ) Other accounting documents of the Bank used in certain cases where the law requires retention for more than 10 years, shall be retained according to those provisions.

e) Audit documents and financial statement files of the State Audit Office, independent auditing organizations.

3. Permanent retention type including:

a) Files, final settlement reports of basic construction investment projects belonging to Group A.

b) Accounting documents with archival value, significant economic, political, and historical importance related to the long-term activities of the Bank.

Determining accounting documents to be permanently retained shall be decided by the legal representative of the Bank based on the archival value and significant importance of the documents and information, and assigned to the accounting department or another department for storage in original form. The permanent retention period must be over 10 years until the accounting documents are naturally destroyed or destroyed according to the decision of the Bank's legal representative.

4. Accounting documents that have exceeded their retention period but are related to lawsuits, disputes, cases that have been, are being, or have yet to be adjudicated shall not apply the retention period under this System but shall apply the retention period prescribed by current relevant laws or the decision of the competent authority.

Article 7. Arrangement of accounting documents

1. Accounting documents must be arranged according to each type of document (accounting vouchers, accounting ledgers, financial reports, etc.) in chronological order for each accounting period before being bound into volumes, ensuring rationality and ease of access when necessary.

2. Specifically, accounting vouchers must be collected comprehensively and promptly, including all generated vouchers (including journal entries and original vouchers along with attachments) and bound into separate "Voucher Journals" on a daily basis.

Prior to binding into voucher journals, vouchers must be arranged according to transaction types (cash vouchers, electronic payment vouchers, internal vouchers, adjusting vouchers, off-balance sheet vouchers, etc.). For each type, a "List of Generated Vouchers..." must be prepared and attached to the arranged vouchers in numerical order of transactions on that day. Original vouchers must be attached to journal entries.

The voucher journals must be arranged in the following order:

a) Summary list of various types of vouchers

b) Cash journal (immediately above cash vouchers)

c) List of generated vouchers (transaction type) along with those vouchers generated on that day.

3. For important accounting documents with permanent retention periods related to journal entries, additional copies must be made (including accompanying documents). These copies must be included in the voucher journals to ensure continuity as stipulated in Article 7 of this Regulation. On the copy, there must be signatures confirming true copies from the Chief Accountant or the person responsible for accounting (hereinafter referred to as the Chief Accountant) and the person responsible for document preservation procedures.

Article 8. Packaging of Accounting Documents

1. After arranging the documents in the specified order, the person responsible for document preservation procedures must securely and neatly bind the accounting documents into volumes. The cover of each volume of accounting documents must clearly state the main contents: name of the unit, name of the accounting document, date of occurrence, binder, and serial number.

2. Accounting vouchers must be bound into voucher volumes on a daily basis. All vouchers within the volume (including the Summary List of Various Types of Vouchers, List of Generated Vouchers (Transaction Type), journal entries, original vouchers, etc.) must be numbered consecutively starting from 01. The outer cover of the voucher volume must clearly state the contents above and specify that this voucher journal includes: ... vouchers numbered from 01 to ...

In cases where a large number of accounting vouchers are generated in a day, they may be divided and bound into smaller volumes, with the outer cover of the voucher volume clearly stating Volume Number ... / Total Number of Volumes in a Day...

In cases where a small number of accounting vouchers are generated daily, they may be bound over multiple days into one volume, but there must be divider pages between each day, with the outer cover of the voucher volume clearly stating Voucher Journal from Date ... to Date ...

3. Before transferring accounting documents to the storage department, the accounting department must package the volumes of documents into bundles (or bags, boxes, crates) according to each type of document and retention period. Each bundle (or bag, box, crate) of documents must clearly state the main contents: name of the unit, name of the accounting document, total number of volumes in the bundle (or bag, box, crate), accounting period, storage number, retention period, expiration date of retention, packer.

Article 9. Transfer of Accounting Documents

The transfer of accounting documents between the accounting department and the storage department shall be conducted in bundles (or packages, boxes, containers) and must be accompanied by a record of the transfer of accounting documents for storage. The record must detail each item and bear the signatures of both the transferring and receiving parties. The record must be made in duplicate, with each party retaining one copy.

Article 10. Ledger for Accounting Documents Storage

At the bank's storage facility, a "Ledger for Accounting Documents Storage" must be maintained to record, monitor, and manage the bank's stored accounting documents. The ledger for accounting documents storage must include the following main contents: Type of stored documents, storage number, date of storage, condition at time of storage, retention period, expiration date of storage.

Article 11. Location for Storing Accounting Documents

1. Accounting documents of a bank must be stored in that bank’s storage facility. The accounting document storage facility must be located near the bank's headquarters, equipped with adequate preservation equipment and conditions, ensuring safety during storage as prescribed by law.

2. In cases where a bank does not organize a storage department or facility within the bank, it must hire an organization or agency to store accounting documents based on a storage contract signed according to the provisions of the law.

3. Accounting documents of foreign-invested banks, branches, and representative offices of foreign banks operating in Vietnam during their operational period as stipulated in the establishment and operation permit, branch opening permit, or representative office opening permit (collectively referred to as the Permit) must be stored at the bank operating on the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Upon termination of operations in Vietnam, the accounting documents must be stored at the location designated by the authority issuing the Permit.

4. Accounting documents of banks ceasing operations, liquidating, or going bankrupt, including accounting documents from ongoing fiscal years within the retention period and those related to cessation of operations, liquidation, or bankruptcy, must be stored at the location designated by the competent authority deciding on the cessation of operations, liquidation, or bankruptcy.

5. Accounting documents of banks undergoing shareholding reform or ownership transformation, including accounting documents from ongoing fiscal years within the retention period and those related to shareholding reform or ownership transformation, must be stored at the new owner bank or at the location designated by the competent authority deciding on shareholding reform or ownership transformation.

6. Accounting documents from ongoing fiscal years within the retention period of banks divided or split into two or more new banks:

a) If the accounting documents are allocated to the new bank, they shall be allocated and stored at the new bank;

b) If the accounting documents cannot be allocated, they shall be stored at the bank being divided or split or at the location designated by the competent authority deciding on the division or split of the bank;

c) Accounting documents related to the division or split shall be stored at the newly formed banks.

7. Accounting documents from ongoing fiscal years within the retention period and those related to the merger of banks shall be stored at the bank accepting the merger.

Article 12. Responsibilities of relevant departments for stored accounting documents

1. For the accounting department: accountants and personnel responsible for custody procedures of vouchers shall be responsible for preserving accounting documents fully, intact, and safely at their own locations, and shall not provide such documents without the consent of the Chief Accountant. The Chief Accountant shall be responsible for the safety, completeness, legality, and validity of the accounting documents, as well as the accuracy of the contents recorded on the bundles (or boxes, chests, or containers) of stored accounting documents.

2. For the storage department: it shall be responsible for managing, protecting the safety, and serving the exploitation and utilization of stored documents. It must bear responsibility for organizing the sequence in the storage room under its management. Without written permission from the legal representative of the Bank or the authorized person, no organization or individual may view or use stored accounting documents. In case there is a risk or discovery of loss, damage, or deterioration of stored accounting documents, the storage department must immediately report to the legal representative of the Bank to take timely measures to address and rectify the situation. The storage department shall be accountable to the legal representative of the Bank and the law for any losses, damages, falsifications, substitutions, modifications, or other incidents caused by its own negligence regarding stored accounting documents.

3. For the legal representative of the Bank: within the scope of their authority, they shall be responsible for directing storage work and applying science and technology to modernize storage work, enhancing the efficiency of management, protection, and exploitation and utilization of stored documents. The legal representative of the Bank shall be accountable to the law for the safety, completeness, and legality of the Bank's stored accounting documents.

Article 13. Exploitation, utilization, and provision of stored accounting documents

The Bank has the responsibility to provide information and accounting documents to state agencies with jurisdiction to perform inspection, examination, investigation, and auditing functions as prescribed by law. The provision of this information and these accounting documents shall be decided by the legal representative of the Bank in accordance with the law.

The exploitation and utilization of stored accounting documents must be agreed upon in writing by the legal representative of the Bank or the authorized person.

Article 14. Sealing, temporary detention, and confiscation of accounting documents

1. When a state agency with jurisdiction decides to seal accounting documents according to the law, the Bank and the representative of the state agency with jurisdiction implementing the sealing task must establish a "Sealing Record of Accounting Documents." The sealing record of accounting documents must clearly state the reasons, quantity, types, and accounting periods of the sealed accounting documents. The legal representative of the Bank and the representative of the state agency with jurisdiction sealing the accounting documents must sign and stamp the Sealing Record of Accounting Documents.

2. In cases where a state agency with jurisdiction temporarily detains or confiscates accounting documents, the Bank and the representative of the state agency with jurisdiction implementing the temporary detention or confiscation task must establish a "Handover Record of Accounting Documents." The handover record of accounting documents must clearly state the reasons, types, quantities of each type of detained or confiscated documents, and the current condition of each type of detained or confiscated documents; if temporarily detained, the period of use and the return date of the accounting documents must also be specified. The legal representative of the Bank and the representative of the state agency with jurisdiction temporarily detaining or confiscating accounting documents must sign and stamp the Handover Record of Accounting Documents, and simultaneously make copies of the detained or confiscated accounting documents and have the representative of the state agency with jurisdiction temporarily detaining or confiscating accounting documents sign and stamp to confirm on the copied accounting documents. For accounting documents presented in electronic data form, the Bank must print them out and follow the procedures stipulated for accounting documents before temporary detention or confiscation.

Article 15. In case accounting documents are lost or destroyed

Upon discovering lost or destroyed accounting documents, the Bank must establish a Committee for Restoring and Handling Accounting Documents chaired by the legal representative of the Bank, with the Chief Accountant and representatives of related departments as members. The Committee must carry out the following tasks:

1. Inspect, determine, and prepare a record on the quantity, condition, and cause of lost or destroyed accounting documents, and notify relevant organizations, individuals, and state agencies with jurisdiction. This record must be stored for the same retention period as that prescribed for damaged or lost documents.

2. Organize the restoration and preservation of damaged accounting documents that can be restored.

3. Contact individuals or organizations involved in accounting transactions and data to obtain copies or confirmation of lost or destroyed accounting documents.

4. For accounting documents related to assets but which cannot be restored through the methods prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, a physical inventory must be conducted to recreate the lost or destroyed accounting documents.

Article 16. Photocopies of accounting documents

Photocopies of accounting documents must be made from original documents and must bear the signature of confirmation of the legal representative of the Bank where the original documents are stored or the competent state agency deciding to temporarily detain or confiscate the accounting documents on the photocopy. Photocopies of accounting documents shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law in the following cases:

1. The case provided for in Clause 2 of Article 14 and Clause 3 of Article 15 of this Regulation.

2. In the case where there is only one original copy of the accounting document but it needs to be stored in two places, one of the two places may store the photocopy of the supporting document.

3. Other cases as prescribed by law.

Article 17. Time for calculating the retention period of accounting documents

1. For accounting documents specified in Clause 1, items a, b, đ of Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 6: counted from the end date of the annual accounting period.

2. For accounting documents specified in item c of Clause 2 of Article 6: counted from the date the final investment capital settlement report of the completed project is approved.

3. For accounting documents specified in item d, and audit documents specified in item e of Clause 2 of Article 6: counted from the completion date of the work.

Article 18. Time limit for transferring accounting documents to storage

1. Accounting documents of the completed accounting period that are no longer used to record in the next accounting period shall be transferred to storage no later than twelve months from the end date of the accounting period.

2. Accounting documents related to the final investment capital settlement report of the completed project shall be transferred to storage no later than twelve months from the date the final investment capital settlement report of the completed project is approved.

3. Accounting documents related to cessation of operations, dissolution, bankruptcy, shareholding reform, change in ownership form, division, shall be transferred to storage no later than six months from the end date of each such work.

Article 19. Destruction of accounting documents beyond the retention period

1. Accounting documents that have exceeded the retention period as prescribed, except in cases where there are other regulations of the competent state agency, shall be destroyed according to the decision of the legal representative of the Bank.

2. Accounting documents stored by which Bank shall be destroyed by that Bank.

3. Depending on the specific conditions of each Bank, accounting documents shall be destroyed by one of the following methods: burning, cutting, tearing, grinding, ensuring that the destroyed accounting documents cannot be reused for the information and data thereon.

Article 20. Procedure for destroying accounting documents beyond the retention period

1. Annually, the legal representative of the Bank decides to establish a "Committee for Destroying Accounting Documents Beyond the Retention Period." The Committee consists of: one representative of the Bank's Board of Directors, the Chief Accountant, a representative of the control department, and a representative of the storage department.

2. The Committee for Destroying Accounting Documents must conduct an inventory, evaluation, and classification of accounting documents by type, prepare a "List of Accounting Documents to be Destroyed," and a "Minutes of Destroying Accounting Documents Beyond the Retention Period."

3. "Minutes of Destroying Accounting Documents Beyond the Retention Period" must be prepared immediately after the destruction of accounting documents. The Minutes of Destroying Accounting Documents Beyond the Retention Period must clearly record the main contents: type of accounting documents, quantity destroyed, retention period of each type (from year to year), method of destruction, conclusion, and signatures of the Committee members.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 21. Heads of units of State-owned commercial banks within their scope of responsibility shall organize the implementation of this Regulation.

The Chairman of the Board of Management, General Director (Director) of credit organizations, Representative Office of foreign credit organizations, and non-credit organizations engaged in banking activities shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Regulation in their respective units.

Article 22. Any act of destroying, damaging, or losing stored accounting documents, depending on the nature and degree of violation, will be subject to administrative penalties or dealt with according to the provisions of the law.

Article 23. Amendments and supplements to this Regulation shall be decided by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam./.