On August 25, 2026, in Ha Noi, Wildlife Conservation Society, Viet Nam Program (WCS Viet Nam) and the Banking Academy of Vietnam (BAV) jointly organized a Seminar on “Strengthening the identification and prevention of financial risks linked to illegal wildlife trade.”
Overview of the seminar, Ha Noi, August 2026
The seminar brought together more than 30 participants, who are representatives from the BAV’s leadership, lecturers from the Academy’s Faculties of Finance, Banking, Accounting, Business Administration, and Law, together with those from commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions and BAV’ student who participated in the training courses “Detecting and reporting suspicious transactions related to illegal wildlife trade” organized by WCS Viet Nam in partnership with BAV in March and April 2026.
At the seminar, a representative of the Banking Research Institute, BAV, shared findings of the post-training survey, focusing on how commercial bank and non-bank financial institution staff have applied the acquired knowledge and skills to identify and address financial risks associated with illegal wildlife trade in their work. The survey results also recorded positive changes in students’ awareness and their career orientation related to wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation.
A representative from the BAV shared the results of the post-training assessment survey, Ha Noi, August 2026.
Representatives from WCS Viet Nam and BAV also shared key updates on wildlife-related violations in Viet Nam during the first six months of 2026 and introduced several tools to support the commercial bank and non-bank financial institution staff in identification and management of financial risks associated with wildlife crime from the perspective of anti-money laundering and ESG practice.
The seminar was conducted within the framework of the project “Scaling up efforts to counter wildlife trafficking in Viet Nam” funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), United States Department of State, implemented by WCS in Viet Nam.