Vietnam Account Requirement Frequently Asked Questions The FAQs below will help answer some common questions you may have about Vietnam regulatory requirements on Account and AML validation on Account rs. 1. What are the legal base of requirements Decision 1789/2005/QD-NHNN: Article 5.g, on contents of bank accounting vouchers, stipulates that transfer payment among banks must be approved by the controller (Chief Accountant, person is in charge of accounting) or his/ her designee(s) and the Account Holder (Head of the organization) or his/ her designee(s) Article 8.2.a stipulates that Accounting voucher initiated by organization/association which is not required to have Chief Accountant by law, must be approved by Account Holder (Head of the organization) or his/ her designee(s) Circular 23/2014/ TT-NHNN: Article 4.3 stipulates that corporate is required to submit power of attorney for, signature specimens and ID/PP of authorised persons (notarised or original sighted copy) to operate their account Article 12.2.c stipulates that corporate is required to submit Appointment of the legal representative or authorised representative who registers as Account Holder enclosing with his/her valid ID card or valid passport. Article 12.2.d stipulates that if the corporate is required by law to have Chief accountant, the entity has to submit the Appointment of the Chief accountant, enclosing with his/her valid ID card or passport. Article 12.4 stipulates that document in foreign language must be notarised and translated into Vietnamese. Circular 200/2014/TT-BCT Article 118.6 stipulates that Chief Accountant or his designees must not be the Account Holder or his designees. The authorized person must not authorize to others. FOR EXTERNAL USE 1
2. Who is defined as an Account r? All persons who have the function to authorize payments from Vietnam branch account (branch 718) electronically are defined as Account r and subject to above regulations. Account rs are also defined as AML users. If there is only one Account r in the flow, the last 2 persons in the flow are defined as Account rs/aml users (i.e. Verifier + r, Maker + r) The following are some of the most common entitlements that may trigger Vietnam AML requirements. (a) r of: (i) (ii) (iii) (vi) Payments Payment Services Direct Debit File Import Transactions (b) Verifier of Payments if there is one r in the authorization flow (c) Maker/ Inputters of transactions if there is no Verifier and one r in the authorization flow (d) File Runner if there is one File r in the authorization flow The CitiDirect system may determine that Identity Document and Account r pre-registration with Citibank Vietnam are required for a File user if user can upload files with transactions relating to Vietnam account where there is only one authorizer in the authorization flow. This will be the case even if that user does not specifically have access to transact on the Vietnam account. If the user does not need to transact on Vietnam account(s), please disregard this requirement; The User s ability to complete transactions on Vietnam account(s) will be revoked by the below mentioned date. There s no impact to user s other functions in CitiDirect. 3. What should I do if I am an Account r? Account r should be pre- with Citibank VN as the Account rs by the Account Owner. In case of client linkage (user can access multiple CitiDirect Client definitions), please contact your Security Managers so they will further work with Account Owner (legal entity with account in Citibank VN) to register yourself as the Account r. Pre-registration of Account rs should be signed off by Chief FOR EXTERNAL USE 2
Accountant and the Account Holder, clearly indicating who are Chief Accountant s designees, who are Account Holder s designees Account rs who are Vietnamese must submit a copy of National ID. Account rs who are foreigners must submit a copy of Passport or Government issued National ID (as alternative option if there s no Passport) 4. How can Client (entity that owns the account with Citibank Vietnam) register Account r with Citibank VN? Client must register all Account rs including CitiDirect Account rs from their company or from entity which is authorized to operate their account(s) on their behalf (client linkage case) by submitting the Confirmation of d Signer (Annexure A) to Citibank VN. Client is required to Account r to 1 of 2 Signing Groups: 1) Chief Accountant group includes Chief Accountant and/or his/her designee(s) 2) Account Holder group includes Head of the company and/or his/her designee(s) A person is not allowed to be as r in both Signing Groups. 5. What payment authorization is considered as valid to be processed? All CitiDirect payments must be approved by a minimum of 2 Account rs from different Signing Groups. For Chief accountant exempted entity, CitiDirect payment can be authorized by Account Holder or his/ her designee only. 6. Which local entities are exempted from appointing Chief Accountant 7. What are correct flow set- ups? (For security manager s reference) Foreign Representative office of offshore organization operating in Vietnam Household business/ Co-operatives. For entities which are not included in question/answer number 6: Requires a minimum of 2 Account rs in the Flow: r should be from different level so the requirement to segregate rs from the two different signing groups can be met; For Payment manually input into CitiDirect Maker + (Verifier) + r 1( ) + r 2 ( ) + (Releaser) FOR EXTERNAL USE 3
Verifier and Releaser are optional. If there s only one r in the flow, the Verifier or the Maker (if there s no Verifier) is considered as the 2nd payment approver (meaning 2 nd Account r). They are therefore subject to validation. We however do not recommend these flows because number of users who are subject to validation maybe unnecessarily increased. For File payments, following are choices: A - at Payment Application Joint Flow By Pass RLA File Flow Payment Flow No Yes N/A N/A Yes Yes B - at File Application Joint Flow By Pass RLA File Flow Payment Flow No No Yes Yes N/A N/A C 100% Straight Through Processing (STP) Joint Flow By Pass RLA File Flow Payment Flow No No No No No No D Joint Flow Joint Flow By Pass RLA File Flow Payment Flow Yes N/A Yes Yes/No Yes Yes (*) Note: The above authorization flows are subject to changes in accordance with the guidance of the State Bank of Vietnam from time to time FOR EXTERNAL USE 4
8. What will happen if our flow does not meet the rules in Question 7? Your payments cannot be submitted to Citibank Vietnam for further processing from April 2017. 9. Does the regulation include e- authorizers from a 3 rd party company? 10. Do the regulation impact existing e-authorizers? 11. How will the users be impacted? Yes. The current regulation applied to all Account rs who approve payments from VN account(s) regardless where he/she is based or which company he/she works for. Yes. The bank is reviewing all Account rs and authorization flows in CitiDirect. All rs and flows that have not met current regulatory requirements will be required to change within country time frame. Account r whose access profile was set up to be enable to approve payments from an account based in Vietnam after 17 April 2016, is required : i. to be pre- with Citibank Vietnam as Account r. ii. iii. to submit notarised or original sighted copy of valid Personal ID or Passport to Citibank Vietnam for validation. If a foreigner is Chief Accountant or Account Holder of the entity that owns the account, Passport notarised translation to Vietnamese is required if Passport is submitted. to be activated by Citibank in Vietnam if user meets all above requirements. User cannot approve payment from Vietnam account until user is activated. Account r whose access profiles was set up to be enable to approve payments from an account based in Vietnam before 17 April 2016, at soonest possible, users are required (if they have not done so): to submit identity document to Citibank Vietnam and notarised translated Vietnamese version (if applicable) (same as point 11.ii above) to be pre- with the Bank as Account r (see process guidance in question/answer number 4) Deadline to comply with the above requirement: March 31st 2017. Failure to provide required documentations within the defined timeframe may result in loss of authorization rights on Vietnam accounts which leads to BAU impact. 12. Are there exemptions to Account r validation There is NO exemption to these above requirements to validate Account r against ID/Passport and Account Pre-registration. FOR EXTERNAL USE 5
requirement? 13. What would be considered as an acceptable ID/Passport copy? (i) Notarized or (ii) Citi originally sighted copy of ID or Passport. Additionally, for Chief Accountant and Account Holder of the entity that owns the account must have identity document translated into Vietnamese if the document is in foreign language. At account opening stage, Client already has to submit the appointment of Head of the company and Chief Accountant together with above required identity document. 14. Who can certify these ID/Passport copy and what information is required from the certifier? Notarized offices in Vietnam or Vietnam embassies in foreign countries can certify the copy of the ID/Passport. For Account r outside Vietnam, Citi Relationship Manager of corporate clients or Citi Document Unit rs can certify the copy of the ID/Passport against original by adding their confirmation: for original sighted copy and sign. Minimum information in identity document is required for validation process including: Document Holder name, Nationality, Date of Birth, ID/Passport Number. 15. What should Account r do if his name on CitiDirect BE is different from his name on the ID/Passport? The ID verification will fail. Both the user s full name and the Passport/ID name must be exactly the same. If there s an insignificant discrepancy between user name in CitiDirect and name in Passport/ ID or the Account r pre-registration from the Account Owner, Citibank Relationship Manager can endorse the discrepancy for AML validation based on their knowledge of the user and/or other information from their day to day KYC discipline. Following are insignificant discrepancy definition: a. User name in CitiDirect is short name (First Name + Last Name) while Passport/ ID has full name. b. User name in CitiDirect is in English name/ Nickname while Passport/ID has local name. English name/ Nickname and Local name are pre- with Citibank Vietnam. Any different discrepancy than the definition above are not allowed. In this case, users are required to change the name in CitiDirect to be exact Passport/ID name. 16. Can the Account r submit the document directly to Citibank Vietnam? Yes. However, we recommend Security manager to consolidate all AML users Identity documents and send to Citibank in Hanoi or Citibank in Hochiminh City to save your courier cost. FOR EXTERNAL USE 6
To assist Citi in reconciling documents to the related rs, please complete Annexure B (Cover Letter for Submitting Identity Documents) for each user together with their respective identity documents. 17. Which address that the above required documents to be sent to? Any form or letter is required along with the identification document? The notarised or original sighted copy of user s ID or passport should be sent to: VN Account Services (ASU) Citibank Vietnam - 15 th floor, Sunwah Tower, 115 Nguyen Hue, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (For Citibank Ho Chi Minh City clients) - 17 Ngo Quyen, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam (For Citibank Hanoi clients) Users who are based outside Vietnam can have users passport originally sighted and endorsed by their Relationship Manager or Document Unit r of Citibank in the same country. Notarized or Original sighted copy of ID Card/Passport is required in original with wet signature of the Certifier (or the Notary office s stamp); Thus, documents cannot be shared among Citi branches of AML countries. 18. Can Account r submit a soft copy of these identification documents and designation to speed up the process? No, only the notarized or Citi originally sighted copy of ID / Passport and / or original Power of Attorney letter will be accepted. In urgency, Citibank RM or Document Unit r can send the soft copy of these identification documents with confirmation that they will send the originally sighted document via post, it can be accepted to speed up the activation process. This exception follows deferral procedures for documents. 19. What s the turnaround time for validation? 20. How will Citi handle the notarized or Citi originally sighted copy of the ID documents? Are these documents returnable or available to share with another entity internally? 21. Any contact points for assistance? Aiming for 2 business days at most from the date that Citibank Vietnam receives the good quality of users personal identity document. The notarized or Citi originally sighted ID / Passport must be kept on file by local ASU team for regulatory purposes and will not be returned to the client. They will be safe-kept by the bank as confidential information like other account opening documentation & agreements executed with the client. Citi will not share user s identity document to other countries unless it is required by users and allowed by regulation. Please contact your local CitiService for assistance. For VN Clients: Please contact: FOR EXTERNAL USE 7
Vietnam CitiService Hotline: 84-4/8 3825 7888 Email address: vietnam.citiservice@citi.com FOR EXTERNAL USE 8
ANNEXURE A [Letter Head of Customer] [DD/MMM/YYYY] Citibank N.A., - Hanoi Branch [Citibank N.A., - Ho Chi Minh City Branch] ( Citibank ) 17 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi [115 Nguyen Hue, Ho Chi Minh City] Citibank N.A., Chi nhánh Hà nội [Citibank N.A., Chi nhánh Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh] ( Ngân Hàng Citibank ) 17 Ngô, Hà Nội [115 Nguyễn Huệ, thành phố Hồ Chí Minh] Re: Confirmation of d Signers V/v: Xác nhận Chữ Ký Ủy With reference to Article 13.2 of Circular 23/2014/TT-NHNN dated 19 August 2014, Article 8.2 of Decision 1789/2005/QD-NHNN dated 12 December 2005, Article 118.6 of Circular 200/2014/TT- BTC dated 22 December 2014, the Company s Charter dated [DD/MMM/YYYY] and/or the Board of Resolution dated [DD/MMM/YYYY], we would like to confirm that the designation for our d Signers to approve banking accounting vouchers, including but not limited to Payment/ Payment related instructions via electronic banking 1 or in paper form, for and on behalf of [Company Name] is as follows: Tham chiếu Điều 13.2 Thông tư 23/2014/TT-NHNN ngày 19 tháng 8 năm 2014, Điều 8.2 Quyết định 1789/2005/QD-NHNN ngày 12 tháng 12 năm 2005, Điều 118.6 Thông tư 200/2014/TT-BTC ngày 22 tháng 12 năm 2014, Điều Lệ Công Ty ngày [DD/MMM/YYYY]và/hoặc Biên Bản Hội Đồng Quản Trị ngày [DD/MMM/YYYY], chúng tôi xin xác nhận các Chữ Ký Ủy được đăng ký với Ngân Hàng Citibank được thay mặt [Tên Công Ty] ký các chứng từ kế toán/ chứng từ giao dịch với 1 d Signer(s) in CitiDirect shall be User(s) being r(s) only. 1 (Các) Chữ Ký Ủy trên CitiDirect chỉ dành cho (Những) Người Sử Dụng là (Những) Người Duyệt Lệnh FOR EXTERNAL USE 9
Ngân hàng, bao gồm nhưng không giới hạn các Thanh toán/ Chỉ thị liên quan đến Thanh toán thực hiện dưới hình thức giao dịch điện tử hoặc chứng từ giấy như sau: 1. Account Owner/Chủ Tài Khoản Full Name/Tên Đầy Dụng Với Chứng Từ 2. Account Owner s designees (if any)/ Người ủy quyền của Chủ Tài Khoản (nếu có) Full Name/Tên Đầy Full Name/Tên Đầy Dụng Với Chứng Từ Dụng Với Chứng Từ FOR EXTERNAL USE 10
Full Name/Tên Đầy Dụng Với Chứng Từ 3. Chief Accountant or Person in charge of accounting (hereinafter referred to as Chief Accountant )/ Kế Toán Trưởng hoặc Người phụ trách kế toán (gọi chung là Kế toán trưởng ) Full Name/Tên Đầy Dụng Với Chứng Từ 4. Chief Accountant s designees (if any)/ Người ủy quyền của Kế Toán Trưởng (nếu có) Full Name/Tên Đầy Dụng Với Chứng Từ FOR EXTERNAL USE 11
Full Name/Tên Đầy Full Name/Tên Đầy Dụng Với Chứng Từ Dụng Với Chứng Từ All banking accounting vouchers shall be jointly signed by the Account Owner (or designees) and the Chief Accountant (or designees) as specified above or his/her successor(s) subject to our duly written registration with Citibank. Mọi chứng từ kế toán/ chứng từ giao dịch với Ngân hàng sẽ được đồng ký bởi Chủ Tài Khoản (hoặc người được ủy quyền của Chủ Tài Khoản) và Kế Toán Trưởng (hoặc người ủy quyền của Kế Toán Trưởng) được chỉ định trên đây hoặc người thay thế họ đã được đăng ký bằng văn bản với Ngân Hàng Citibank. This letter shall replace and supersede the confirmation letter dated [DD/MMM/YYYY] on the same subject herein. FOR EXTERNAL USE 12
Xác nhận Chữ Ký Ủy này sẽ thay thế và loại bỏ thư xác nhận ngày [DD/MMM/YYYY] liên quan đến việc đăng ký Chữ Ký Ủy. For and on behalf of /Thay mặt cho: [Company Name/Tên Công Ty] [Full Name/Tên Đầy ] Title: Legal Representative Chức vụ: Đại Diện Theo Pháp Luật [Full Name/Tên Đầy ] Title: Chief Accountant Chức vụ: Kế Toán Trưởng [Full Name/Tên Đầy ] Title: Account Owner (in case the Account Owner is not Legal Representative) Chức danh: Chủ Tài Khoản Chủ Tài Khoản không đồng thời là Đại diện theo pháp luật) FOR EXTERNAL USE 13
ANNEXURE B Cover Letter for submitting Identity Documents Dear Sir/Madam, In accordance with the Vietnam regulatory requirements on Account and r Due diligence, please find attached documents relating to r in CitiDirect BE who is/are delegated to approve payments from Vietnam account (s) as below: r Name User ID Account Name Account Number Signed by: [Security Manager of the Document owner OR the Security Manager of the Account Owner] Dated: FOR EXTERNAL USE 14