Ha Noi, December 8, 2022, WCS Viet Nam in collaboration with Banking Academy of Viet Nam (BAV) organized a Consultation workshop with participation of more than 40 representatives from financial institutions and law enforcement agencies from central level and some hot-spots of illegal wildlife trade (IWT) including Ha Noi, Quang Ninh, and Da Nang, along with other conservation NGOs, and research and training institutions on banking, law and police. The assessment and the workshop were conducted within the framework of the project “Combating Wildlife Trafficking in Viet Nam” funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), United States Department of State.
Ms. Pham Thi Hoang Anh, Director of BAV, Ha Noi, December 2022
This assessment which has been conducted by WCS in collaboration with BAV from August to December 2022 with participation of 428 respondents joining in-depth interviews and filling self-assessment questionnaire from State Bank of Viet Nam and its provincial branch offices, commercial banks, non-banking financial service providers, tax authorities, law enforcement agencies, such as police, customs, and international organizations. This is a first step of the efforts that WCS supports to improve the awareness and capacity on detecting and preventing financial risks associated with wildlife trafficking for local law enforcement agencies and financial institutions in Viet Nam. Key preliminary findings were shared and discussed lively and in details in this consultation workshop.
According to the assessment report, at least 73.4% of respondents from banking institutions identified IWT as an activity with high and medium-high risk of money laundering; more than 60% of respondents from commercial banks have basic understanding on anti-money laundering approaches and measures related to IWT. Bank officials all responded that three activities with high potential for money laundering included money transfer/payment, international payment/trade financing, banking products and services on the digital platform.
About 95% of respondents shared that there are internal compliance and anti-money laundering risk management mechanisms in their respective banks but these mechanisms are not specific to IWT.
Mr. Pham Thanh Trung, Program Manager, WCS Viet Nam, Ha Noi, December 2022
Respondents also shared that there is no information sharing mechanism and procedure or coordinated investigation of money laundering risks related to IWT between banks and law enforcement agencies.
Comments gathered from workshop will be incorporated into a final version that will be shared back to all interested financial institutions, law enforcement agencies and conservation organizations for designing future capacity building activities, and policy formulation to effectively prevent money laundering risks related to IWT in Viet Nam.
In this workshop, participants also had an opportunity to share and discuss lessons learned and experiences in detecting, preventing and dismantling financial crimes related to IWT with representatives of the South African Anti-Money Laundering Integrated Task Force (SAMLIT), and the United for Wildlife, the Royal Foundation.
Overview of the workshop, Ha Noi, December 2022