DECREE NO. 232/2025/NĐ-CP AMENDING AND COMPLEMENTING CERTAIN ARTICLES OF DECREE NO. 24/2012/NĐ-CP DATED APRIL 3, 2012 OF THE GOVERNMENT ON MANAGEMENT OF GOLD BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

DECREE

Amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 24/2012/NĐ-CP dated April 3, 2012 of the Government on management of gold trading activities

Pursuant to the Law on the Organization of the Government No. 63/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on the State Bank of Vietnam No. 46/2010/QH12;

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam hereby promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 16/2021/TT-NHNN dated November 10, 2021 issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on the organization of credit institutions and foreign bank branches purchasing and selling corporate bonds.

Pursuant to the Law on Foreign Trade Management No. 05/2017/QH14;

At the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the Enterprise Law No. 59/2020/QH14 amended and supplemented by Law No. 76/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Investment Law No. 61/2020/QH14 amended and supplemented by Laws No. 57/2024/QH15 and No. 90/2025/QH15;

At the proposal of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam;

The Government promulgates this Decree to amend and supplement certain articles of Decree No. 24/2012/NĐ-CP dated April 3, 2012 of the Government on management of gold trading activities.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 24/2012/NĐ-CP dated April 3, 2012 of the Government on management of gold trading activities

1. Amending and supplementing Clause 1 of Article 1 as follows:

"1. This Decree stipulates about gold trading activities, including: Activities of producing and processing gold jewelry and artworks; activities of buying and selling gold jewelry and artworks; activities of producing gold bars; activities of buying and selling gold bars; activities of exporting and importing gold and other gold trading activities, including gold trading on accounts and derivative gold trading activities."

2. Amending and supplementing Clause 2, Article 3 as follows:

"2. Gold bars are products made from gold stamped into bars, marked with characters and numbers indicating weight and quality, bearing the code mark of enterprises and commercial banks permitted by the State Bank of Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as the State Bank) to produce; gold bars produced by the State Bank during each period."

3. Amending and supplementing Clause 6, 8, Article 4 as follows:

"6. Activities of producing gold bars; buying and selling gold bars; producing gold jewelry and artworks are conditional business activities and must be granted a Production License for Gold Bars, a Buying and Selling License for Gold Bars, and a Certificate of Eligibility for Producing Gold Jewelry and Artworks by the State Bank. The purchase and sale of raw gold materials by enterprises and commercial banks producing gold bars shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Decree."

"8. Derivative gold trading activities of commercial banks and branches of foreign banks shall be implemented in accordance with Article 112 of the Law on Credit Organizations."

4. Supplementing Clause 10, Article 4 as follows:

"10. Transactions of buying and selling gold with a value of 20 million dong or more in a day of a customer must be conducted through the customer's transaction account and the enterprise's transaction account for gold trading opened at a commercial bank or branch of a foreign bank."

5. Supplementing Clause 5a, Article 6 as follows:

"5a. When selling raw gold purchased from enterprises and commercial banks specified in Article 11a of this Decree, they must issue and use electronic invoices in accordance with the provisions of the law; store complete and accurate data on transactions of selling raw gold; implement connection to provide information to the State Bank in accordance with the regulations of the Governor of the State Bank."

6. Amending the name of Chapter III as follows:

"Chapter III. ACTIVITIES OF PRODUCING AND BUYING AND SELLING GOLD BARS"

7. Supplementing Article 11a after Article 11 as follows:

"Article 11a. Conditions for granting a Production License for Gold Bars

1. An enterprise shall be considered for issuance of a License for Gold Bullion Production by the State Bank of Vietnam if it meets the following conditions:

a) It holds a License for Gold Bullion Trading.

b) It has a charter capital of VND 1,000 billion or more.

c) Not being subject to administrative penalties for gold trading activities or having been administratively penalized for gold trading activities but has completed all measures to rectify consequences according to the Administrative Penalty Decision, recommendations with deadlines for implementation in the Inspection and Audit Conclusions of competent state agencies (if any);

d) Having internal regulations specifying the production of gold bars including basic contents such as the process of importing raw materials; the process of producing gold bars; the process of supervising production; the process of controlling product quality.

2. A commercial bank shall be considered for issuance of a License for Gold Bullion Production by the State Bank of Vietnam if it meets the following conditions:

a) It holds a License for Gold Bullion Trading.

b) It has a charter capital of VND 50,000 billion or more.

c) Not being subject to administrative penalties for gold trading activities or having been administratively penalized for gold trading activities but has completed all measures to rectify consequences according to the Administrative Penalty Decision, recommendations with deadlines for implementation in the Inspection and Audit Conclusions of competent state agencies (if any);

d) Having internal regulations specifying the production of gold bars including basic contents such as the process of importing raw materials; the process of producing gold bars; the process of supervising production; the process of controlling product quality.3. The Governor of the State Bank shall specify the dossier and procedures for granting a Production License for Gold Bars."

8. Amend and supplement Article 12 as follows:

"Article 12. Responsibilities of organizations permitted to produce, trade in buying and selling gold bars

1. Only permitted to produce, trade in buying and selling gold bars as specified in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Decree.

2. Comply with legal regulations on accounting systems, issuance and use of invoices and vouchers.

a) Announcing the standards applied, quantity, and purity of the products according to the provisions of the law and bearing legal responsibility for the quantity and purity of the products produced being consistent with the announced standards;

a) Announce applicable standards, quantity, and purity of products in accordance with the law and bear legal responsibility for the standards of quantity and purity of products produced in accordance with the announced standards.

c) Establishing an information system for processing and storing data on the gold bullion produced, which includes basic contents such as raw material input information, production time, and output products; implementing connectivity to provide information to the State Bank of Vietnam as prescribed by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam.

c) Establish a system for processing and storing data on produced gold bars, including basic information such as raw material input, production time, and output product; implement connection to provide information to the State Bank as stipulated by the Governor of the State Bank.

a) Publicly listing the purchase and sale prices of gold bullion at transaction locations or on their websites and connecting to provide information about the listed prices to the State Bank of Vietnam;

b) Not being allowed to conduct gold bullion trading through appointed agents;

c) Ensuring safety measures and equipment in their trading activities;

d) Establishing internal regulations on gold bullion trading, clearly defining the transaction procedures with customers; publicly announcing customer rights and obligations on the website of the credit institution or enterprise or publicly posting them at the transaction location; retaining complete and accurate transaction data;

d) Establish internal regulations on buying and selling gold bars, clearly defining the transaction procedures for buying and selling gold bars with customers; publicly announce customer rights and obligations on the credit institution's or enterprise's electronic information page or publicly post at the transaction office; fully and accurately store transaction data on buying and selling gold bars.

đ) Establish a system for processing and storing transaction data on buying and selling gold bars, including basic information such as identification for individuals, tax code for enterprises, quantity and value of transactions for buyers and sellers; implement connection to provide information to the State Bank as stipulated by the Governor of the State Bank.

5. Comply with the provisions of this Decree and other relevant laws.

9. Amend and supplement Article 14 as follows:

“Article 14. Exporting and Importing Gold

1. The State Bank grants annual quotas and individual permits to enterprises and commercial banks as specified in Article 11a of this Decree for exporting and importing gold bars; annual quotas and individual permits to enterprises and commercial banks as specified in Article 11a of this Decree for importing gold raw materials.

2. Based on monetary policy objectives and supply-demand conditions of gold in each period, the State Bank grants import permits for gold raw materials to enterprises as stipulated in Clauses 4, 5, and 6 of this Article and export permits for gold raw materials to enterprises with mining permits as stipulated in Clause 7 of this Article. Enterprises as stipulated in Clauses 4, 5, and 7 of this Article must meet the conditions stipulated in point c, Clause 1 of Article 11a of this Decree.

3. The State Bank’s activities of exporting and importing raw gold are exempt from export tax and import tax pursuant to the Prime Minister's decision.

4. Enterprises engaged in gold trading that have overseas processing contracts for jewelry and decorative items may be considered for temporary import permits for gold raw materials by the State Bank to re-export finished products when meeting the following conditions:

a) Having a certificate of eligibility for production of jewelry and decorative gold products issued by the State Bank;

b) The need to import raw gold is consistent with the contract for processing jewelry and decorative gold products with foreign countries.

5. Annually, the State Bank considers granting import permits for gold raw materials to foreign-invested enterprises based on their production capacity and reports on the export situation of jewelry and decorative items from the previous year (if any), when meeting the following conditions:

a) Being an enterprise registered for production of jewelry and decorative gold products;

b) The need to import raw gold is consistent with the contract for processing jewelry and decorative gold products.

6. Enterprises investing abroad in the gold mining sector that need to import gold mined overseas may be considered for import permits for gold raw materials by the State Bank when meeting the following conditions:

a) Being an enterprise registered for gold mining in the Investment Certificate;

b) The raw gold expected to be imported is either mined by the enterprise overseas or allocated products under agreements for gold mining overseas.

7. Enterprises holding gold mining permits may be considered by the State Bank for issuance of permits for exporting raw gold mined domestically when meeting the following conditions:

a) Being a foreign-invested enterprise holding a gold mining permit;

b) The raw gold expected to be exported is mined domestically.

8. The export and import of raw gold in the form of powder, solution, solder flakes, gold salts, and semi-finished gold jewelry products shall be conducted based on the Enterprise Registration Certificate.

9. The Governor of the State Bank shall specify the application forms, procedures for issuing export and import permits for gold, and the validity period of such permits.

10. Responsibilities of enterprises and commercial banks granted export and import permits for gold as specified in Clause 1 of this Article:

a) Only permitted to import gold bars and raw gold with a purity of 99.5% or higher;

b) Announce applicable standards, quantity, and purity of imported gold bars and gold raw materials in accordance with the law and bear legal responsibility for the standards applied, quantity, and purity of imported products in accordance with the announced standards.

c) To establish and report to the State Bank internal regulations on export and import, measures to ensure safety in gold export and import activities;

d) Establish internal regulations ensuring transparency in selling gold raw materials; publicly announce information on selling gold raw materials, customer rights and obligations; fully and accurately store data on exports, imports, and transactions of gold raw materials.

đ) To use imported raw gold for the following purposes:

đ.1) Producing gold bars;

đ.2) Producing jewelry and decorative gold products;

đ.3) Selling to enterprises and commercial banks granted permits for producing gold bars;

đ.4) Selling to enterprises granted certificates of eligibility for producing jewelry and decorative gold products.

e) Establish a system for processing and storing data on exports, imports, and transactions of gold raw materials, including basic information such as partner details, quantity, purity, and transaction value; implement connection to provide information to the State Bank as stipulated by the Governor of the State Bank.

g) Comply with the provisions of this Decree and other relevant laws.

10. Amend and supplement Article 16 as follows:

“Article 16. Responsibilities of the State Bank of Vietnam

1. To develop and submit to competent authorities for issuance of strategies and plans on developing the gold market towards marketization.

2. Establishing and adjusting the annual total limit for gold bullion export and import, and gold raw material import by enterprises and commercial banks as stipulated in Article 11a of this Decree based on:

a) Macroeconomic conditions and monetary policy objectives;

b) The scale of state foreign exchange reserves;

c) The implementation situation of gold bar exports and imports, and gold raw material imports.

Based on the annual total limit, the State Bank of Vietnam shall allocate the annual limit to enterprises and commercial banks according to their charter capital scale; the situation of gold bullion export and import, gold raw material import in previous years (if any), and the needs of enterprises and commercial banks. The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam shall specify the method for distributing the annual limit to enterprises and commercial banks.

3. The State Bank shall issue, amend, supplement, and revoke:

a) Certificate of eligibility for producing jewelry and decorative gold;

b) License for producing gold bars;

c) License for buying and selling gold bars;

d) License for exporting and importing gold bars and gold raw materials;

đ) License for carrying gold when exiting and entering the country by individuals exceeding the prescribed limit;

e) License for gold business activities as provided for in Clause 9, Article 4 after obtaining approval from the Prime Minister;

g) The annual export and import limits for gold bullion and gold raw material import by enterprises and commercial banks as stipulated in Article 11a of this Decree.

4. Cooperating with relevant ministries and sectors to establish an information system, build and store data on the gold market, and provide information to related agencies to enhance transparency and support effective management work.

5. The State Bank of Vietnam shall inspect and audit activities related to gold bullion production, gold jewelry and art production, gold bullion trading, gold bullion export and import, and gold business activities as provided for in Clause 9, Article 4 of this Decree.

6. The State Bank of Vietnam shall publish on its electronic information website the purchase and sale prices of gold bullion provided by enterprises and credit institutions licensed by the State Bank of Vietnam to engage in gold bullion trading.

7. The State Bank of Vietnam shall perform other tasks and powers related to managing gold business operations as decided by the Prime Minister.”

11. Amend and supplement Article 17 as follows:

“Article 17. Responsibilities of Ministries, Agencies at the Level of Ministries, and People's Committees of Provinces and Central Cities

Within their functions, tasks, and authorities, ministries, agencies at the level of ministries, and People's Committees of provinces and central cities shall be responsible for state management of gold business activities as follows:

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies to manage and inspect activities related to gold jewelry and art production, gold jewelry and art trading, and compliance with legal regulations by enterprises engaged in gold business.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam to submit to competent authorities for issuance or issue within their authority tax policies for gold export and import, value-added tax, special consumption tax, and income tax applicable to gold business activities during each period; stipulate and guide the implementation of enterprise registration certificates for gold businesses and share information on enterprise registration certificates for gold businesses with the State Bank of Vietnam for coordination purposes.

3. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall take the lead and coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam and relevant agencies to promulgate national standards for gold jewelry and art and gold bullion; inspect and manage measurement and quality control for gold jewelry and art, gold bullion, and gold raw materials in production, import, and circulation in the market; calibrate measuring instruments of gold businesses.

4. The Government Inspectorate shall perform audit functions over gold production and trading activities according to legal provisions.

5. The Ministry of Public Security shall cooperate with relevant ministries and sectors in combating, investigating, and handling crimes and violations of laws concerning gold business activities according to legal provisions.

6. People's Committees of provinces and central cities shall implement state management over gold business activities in their localities in accordance with this Decree and other relevant laws within their tasks and authorities. The Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and central cities shall direct the implementation of inspection and auditing work on gold business activities in their localities. Provincial Inspectorates shall conduct inspections within the scope of provincial-level state management over gold business activities.”

12. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 19 as follows:

"2. Production activities and gold bullion trading without a license issued by the State Bank of Vietnam; gold raw material export and import, gold bullion export and import not in accordance with regulations."

13. Amend and supplement Article 20 as follows:

"Article 20. Reporting System

Enterprises and commercial banks engaged in gold trading must report on their production, purchase, and sale of jewelry and decorative gold; production, purchase, and sale of gold bars; export and import of gold; and sales of imported raw gold in accordance with the regulations of the State Bank and other competent authorities.

Article 2. Repeal Clause 3 of Article 4 of Decree No. 24/2012/NĐ-CP dated April 3, 2012 of the Government on the management of gold trading activities.

Article 3. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Decree takes effect from October 10, 2025.

2. The Joint Stock Company of Precious Metals and Jewelry Ho Chi Minh City - SJC (hereinafter referred to as SJC Company) is permitted to reprocess gold bars from SJC gold bars produced and processed by the SJC Company before this Decree takes effect, which have at least one of the following characteristics: scratches; additional markings or symbols not belonging to the SJC Company. The SJC Company shall bear full responsibility under the law for ensuring that the reprocessed SJC gold bars are those produced and processed by the SJC Company in accordance with the law.

3. The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam shall be responsible for guiding and organizing the implementation of this Decree.

4. The Minister, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and centrally-run city People's Committees, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Decree.