Circular No. 24/2024/TT-NHNN amends and supplements certain provisions of Circular No. 33/2015/TT-NHNN dated December 31, 2015, issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, concerning safety ratios in the operation of microfinance organizations.

CIRCULAR

1. Amend and supplement Point d of Clause 2 of Article 24 as follows: certain provisions of Circular No. 33/2015/TT-NHNN dated September

December 31, 2015 issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam stipulating

safety ratios in operations of microfinance organizations

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

On the basis of Law on Credit Institutions January 18 2024;

Pursuant to Decree No. 102/2022/NĐ-CP dated December 12, 2022 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the State Bank of Vietnam;

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

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 33/2015/TT-NHNN dated December 31, 2015 stipulating safety ratios in operations of microfinance organizations of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 33/2015/TT-NHNN dated December 31, 2015 issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam regarding safety ratios in operations of microfinance organizations.

"1. This Circular stipulates restrictions and safety ratios (hereinafter referred to as safety ratios) in operations of microfinance organizations, including:

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

a) Minimum capital adequacy ratio;

b) Liquidity ratio;

c) Credit provision for credit assessors and approvers according to Clause 3, Article 135 of the Law on Credit Institutions."

2. Supplementing Point e to Clause 2, Article 5 as follows:

"e) Financial reserve fund."

3. Amending and supplementing Clause 1, Clause 2, and Clause 4, Article 6 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing Point b, Clause 1 as follows:

"b) Balance of settlement accounts of microfinance organizations opened at the State Bank;"

b) Amending and supplementing Point a, Clause 2 as follows:

"a) Deposits of microfinance organizations at credit institutions, branches of foreign banks, except deposits at credit institutions under special control according to Clause 9, Article 174 of the Law on Credit Institutions;"

"4. The 'Assets' group with a risk weight of 100% includes:

c) Amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

a) Loan balance to customers, excluding loan balances classified into asset groups with risk weights of 0%, 20%, and 50%;

b) All other 'Assets', excluding assets classified into asset groups with risk weights of 0%, 20%, and 50%."

"Article 7. Internal regulations on liquidity management and credit provision for credit assessors and approvers at microfinance organizations

4. To amend and supplement Article 7 as follows:

1. Based on the provisions of this Circular, current regulations of the State Bank, and actual operations, the Board of Members of microfinance organizations must issue internal regulations on liquidity management as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article; review, amend, and supplement at least once a year to effectively and promptly manage the liquidity capacity of microfinance organizations.

2. Internal regulations on liquidity management include the following main contents:

a) Assignment of staff to monitor the ability to pay of microfinance organizations;

b) Plan to implement payments of deposits (voluntary deposits and mandatory savings) in cases where the liquidity ratio is not met;

c) Regulations on cash management, income, expenditure, daily sources of funds, and regulations on holding negotiable instruments easily convertible to cash;

d) Procedures and limits for liquidity management.

3. Microfinance organizations must amend and supplement internal regulations to comply with Clause 2 of this Article before December 31, 2024.

4. Within ten working days from the date of issuance or amendment of internal regulations on liquidity management, microfinance organizations must directly submit or send via postal service such internal regulations to the State Bank (Bank Inspection and Supervision Department). In case of amendments or supplements to internal regulations, microfinance organizations must submit a report on the amended or supplemented contents along with the internal regulations.

5. Microfinance organizations shall provide credit to the objects specified in Point d, Clause 1, Article 135 of the Law on Credit Institutions as follows:

a) Issue internal regulations on providing credit to credit assessors and approvers at microfinance organizations ensuring compliance with current regulations of the State Bank on total loan balances to individual financial clients, relevant laws, and directly submit or send via postal service such internal regulations to the State Bank (Bank Inspection and Supervision Department);

b) Provide credit to credit assessors and approvers at microfinance organizations according to the issued internal regulations;

c) Report to shareholders and capital contributors when credit is provided to the objects specified in Point d, Clause 1, Article 135 of the Law on Credit Institutions;

d) Report to the State Bank on credits provided to the objects specified in Point d, Clause 1, Article 135 of the Law on Credit Institutions."

4. Amending and supplementing Article 8 as follows:

"Article 8. Liquidity ratio, in case microfinance organizations have a risk of losing the ability to pay, losing the ability to pay

1. Microfinance organizations must maintain a minimum liquidity ratio of 20% continuously.

2. The liquidity ratio is determined by the following formula:

A = B/C x 100 (%)

A: is the liquidity ratio.

Where:

B: cash, balance of settlement accounts of microfinance organizations opened at the State Bank; deposits of microfinance organizations at credit institutions, branches of foreign banks (if any).

C: total voluntary deposit balances of customers.

3. Specific methods for determining the liquidity ratio are detailed in Appendix No. 02 attached to this Circular.

4. Microfinance organizations are at risk of losing the ability to pay when the shortage of cash, balance of settlement accounts of microfinance organizations opened at the State Bank, deposits of microfinance organizations at credit institutions, branches of foreign banks exceeds 20% at the time of calculating the liquidity ratio, leading to inability to maintain the liquidity ratio stipulated in this Circular for a continuous period of 30 days.

5. Microfinance organizations lose the ability to pay when they cannot fulfill payment obligations within one month from the due date."

5. A microfinance organization is unable to meet its payment obligations when it lacks the ability to make payments on its debt for a period of 01 month from the due date.

6. In case of a risk of insolvency or insolvency, microfinance organizations must promptly report to the State Bank regarding the current situation, causes, measures already applied, planned measures to address the issue, and any recommendations or requests to the State Bank (if any).

6. Amending and supplementing Article 11 as follows:

Article 11. Responsibilities of the Banking Inspection and Supervision Authority

1. Inspect, supervise, and handle violations by microfinance organizations in implementing safety ratios as stipulated in this Circular.

2. Receive internal regulations and documents amending and supplementing internal regulations of microfinance organizations as prescribed in this Circular.

Article 2. Repeal and replace certain provisions and annexes of Circular No. 33/2015/TT-NHNN dated December 31, 2015, issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on safety ratios in the operations of microfinance organizations

1. Replace Annex 01 and Annex 02 of Circular No. 33/2015/TT-NHNN with Annex 01 and Annex 02 attached to this Circular.

2. Repeal Point b Clause 3 Article 5, Point đ Clause 1 Article 6, and Article 10 of Circular No. 33/2015/TT-NHNN.

This Circular takes effect from December 25, 2025/.

The Director of the Office, the Head of the Banking Inspection and Supervision Authority, Heads of units under the State Bank, microfinance organizations, Chairmen of the Board of Members, General Directors of microfinance organizations, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular.

Article 4. Implementation provisions

The Director of the Office, the Head of the Payment Department, the Heads of relevant units under the State Bank of Vietnam, credit institutions, foreign bank branches, and other related organizations are responsible for implementing this Circular./.