State will strictly control private credit information centers

At present, Vietnam has no privately-run credit information institutions. In the near future, based on a decree on credit information management that comes into effect as of April 15, the way for establishing such centers will be paved.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is collecting opinions on a draft circular that guides the implementation of a decree that allows the establishment ofcredit information centers if they meet strict requirements.

In order to establish a credit information company, a group must have commitments from at least 20 banks to provide information. The 20 banks must also agree that they will not provide information to any other company.

According to Pham Cong Uan, Director of the Credit Information Centre (CIC) under SBV, the requirement aims to restrict the number of privately-run credit information companies.

Uan noted that there are 51 banks in Vietnam, including foreign bank branches, so, under this regulation, Vietnam will have no more than two privatecredit information companies

He added that credit information companies can also get data from other credit institutions. They can cooperate with each other or with CIC in order to gain necessary information for clients.

Colin Raymond, an International Finance Corporation representative from the World Bank, maintained that Vietnam has good reason to restrict the number of credit information institutions. Russia set no limit on the number of such centres, which has resulted in nearly 50 companies and big difficulties in management.

IFC will give advice to SBV in building the legal framework for providing credit information.

The decree also stipulates that every company must have chartered capital of at least 30 billion dong and must have qualified employees who are not allowed to do other kinds of business.

CIC is assigned by SBV to manage credit information companies. In addition, CIC will join forces with other government agencies, inspectors, the information technology department and legal departments to grant licenses for privately-runcredit information centers.

According to Uan, two companies have already expressed their intention to set up credit information institutions in Vietnam.

Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon