Joint Circular No. 70/2016/TTLT-BTC-TTCP stipulates the establishment, management, and use of the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Regulations on the establishment, management, and utilization of the Anti-Corruption Merit Fund

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Pursuant to the State Budget Law No. 01/2002/QH11;

Pursuant to the Anti-Corruption Law No. 55/2005/QH11 amended and supplemented by Law No. 01/2007/QH12 and Law No. 27/2012/QH13;

Pursuant to the Law on Complaints No. 03/2011/QH13;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003, promulgated by the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;

Pursuant to Decree No. 76/2012/NĐ-CP dated October 3, 2012 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Complaints;

Pursuant to Decree No. 59/2013/NĐ-CP dated June 17, 2013 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Anti-Corruption Law;

Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 83/2012/NĐ-CP dated October 9, 2012 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Government Inspectorate;

The Minister of Finance and the Chief Inspector General issue this Joint Circular regulating the establishment, management, and utilization of the Anti-Corruption Merit Fund.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular regulates the establishment, management, and utilization of the Anti-Corruption Merit Fund.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Agencies, organizations, and individuals with outstanding achievements in anti-corruption work.

2. The Government Inspectorate, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and agencies, organizations authorized to handle complaints and anti-corruption cases under the Law on Complaints and the Anti-Corruption Law.

Article 3. Purpose and Principles of Utilization

1. The Anti-Corruption Merit Fund managed by the Government Inspectorate shall be used to reward agencies, organizations, and individuals with outstanding achievements in anti-corruption work.

2. The Anti-Corruption Merit Fund must be utilized in accordance with the law, for its intended purpose, transparently, and promptly. The head of the agency or organization issuing the reward decision shall be responsible for that decision.

Article 4. Source of Funds

1. The state budget allocated to the Anti-Corruption Merit Fund is guaranteed by the central budget and included in the annual budget estimate of the Government Inspectorate.

2. Revenue from assets recovered through corruption-related cases:

a) For individual rewards for outstanding achievements in reporting acts of corruption that help recover for the State assets valued at more than 600 times the minimum wage base, the localities shall allocate a portion of their local budget to transfer to the Anti-Corruption Merit Fund based on the actual amount or value of assets submitted to the local budget. The transfer rate shall be equivalent to the reward level for individuals as prescribed in Joint Circular No. 01/2015/TTLT-TTCP-BNV dated March 16, 2015 of the Government Inspectorate and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

b) For rewards to agencies and organizations that help recover significant assets for the State and whose achievements exceed the prescribed levels, the localities shall allocate a portion of their local budget to transfer to the Anti-Corruption Merit Fund based on the actual amount or value of assets submitted to the local budget. The transfer rate shall be equivalent to the reward level for agencies and organizations with outstanding achievements in anti-corruption work as prescribed by the Government Inspectorate.

3. Contributions from domestic and foreign individuals and organizations to the Anti-Corruption Merit Fund:

Monetary contributions are received and deposited into the Government Inspectorate's account opened at the State Treasury. Physical contributions are directly used for organizing rewards or sold at auction according to current regulations, with the proceeds deposited into the Government Inspectorate's account at the State Treasury for utilization as prescribed in Article 5 of this Circular.

Article 5. Content and Levels of Expenditure

1. Content and levels of rewards for individuals with outstanding achievements in reporting acts of corruption as prescribed in Joint Circular No. 01/2015/TTLT-TTCP-BNV dated March 16, 2015 of the Government Inspectorate and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

2. Content and levels of rewards for agencies and organizations with outstanding achievements in preventing, detecting, and handling corruption as prescribed by the Government Inspectorate.

Article 6. Budget preparation, management and settlement

1. Annually, at the time of preparing the budget based on the contributions from individuals and organizations within and outside the country to the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund; the results of using the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund in the previous year and the estimated total amount for merit awards related to anti-corruption in the planning year, the Government Inspectorate shall be responsible for:

a) Preparing the state budget estimate (the central budget portion guaranteed) to supplement the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund to be included in the Government Inspectorate's state budget estimate and sent to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in the overall state budget estimate submitted to the competent authority for decision.

b) The state budget estimate to supplement the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund shall be assigned as a separate item in the annual revenue and expenditure budget estimate of the Government Inspectorate.

2. Regarding the funds mentioned in Clause 2 of Article 4 of this Circular:

a) Based on the award dossier sent by ministries, central agencies, and localities; the Government Inspectorate shall issue a document to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities requesting the transfer to the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund (along with the award dossier as prescribed).

b) Based on the request of the Government Inspectorate, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall be responsible for allocating local budgets to transfer into the account opened by the Government Inspectorate at the State Treasury and report to the People's Councils at the same level at the nearest session.

3. The Government Inspectorate shall be responsible for managing and using the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund in accordance with the laws on state budget, laws on denunciation and anti-corruption.

4. The accounting, bookkeeping, and settlement of the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law, Accounting Law, and implementing regulations. At the end of the year, unused funds of the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund shall be transferred to the next year for continued use according to the laws on state budget. The Government Inspectorate shall be responsible for settling the fund's budget and consolidating it in the annual settlement report of the Government Inspectorate as prescribed.

5. The Government Inspectorate shall be responsible for publicly disclosing the sources of funds of the Fund and the situation of its use and settlement according to financial transparency regulations.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from June 24, 2016.

2. The Government Inspectorate shall be responsible for promulgating the management and usage regulations of the Anti-Corruption Merit Award Fund after reaching consensus with the Ministry of Finance.

3. In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties, agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to reflect these issues to the Ministry of Finance and the Government Inspectorate for guidance, amendment, and supplementation to ensure compliance./.