Vietnam authorities are working on a decree that would penalise casino operators without a licence or who are involved in money laundering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Vietnam.- The Vietnamese government is seeking to\u00a0tighten rules on money laundering rules\u00a0<\/strong>and casinos that operate without a licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Vietnam Ministry of Finance is working on\u00a0a new decree that outlines penalties of up to VND200m<\/strong>\u00a0if a casino operates without a certificate of eligibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decree will also introduce fines of between VND40m and VND50m for casino operators that fail to report suspicious transactions<\/strong>\u00a0as prescribed by law. It will also include fines of between VND90m and VND100m<\/strong>\u00a0for organising or facilitating money laundering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ministry of Finance said the government was committed to\u00a0improving the efficiency of policy and law enforcement\u00a0<\/strong>and seeks to improve the publicity and transparency of the gaming sector to protect the interests of gamblers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April, the Vietnam government released a\u00a0conditional list of restricted sectors<\/a>\u00a0for foreign investment, which includes casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The list includes 59 business sectors <\/strong>including the production, distribution and broadcasting of TV programmes and music, and the extraction and processing of natural resources alongside gambling and casinos.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A second list includes 25 types of business banned for foreign investors<\/strong>. Among them are press activities and information gathering in any form, tourism services (except for inbound tourism services for international visitors) and trading in goods and services subject to state monopoly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decree, which has already taken effect, specifies that foreign investors are treated as domestic investors<\/strong> in terms of market entry conditions when investing in business lines that are not mentioned in either of the two lists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fitch Ratings<\/a>\u00a0has forecast that\u00a0Vietnam\u2019s GDP could continue to grow in 2021\u00a0<\/strong>despite ongoing Covid-19 countermeasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among Asian countries,\u00a0Vietnam\u2019s economy was one of the few which could maintain positive growth<\/strong>\u00a0in 2020 despite the pandemic\u2019s impact on the domestic economic activity and tourism inflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analysts have now revised their outlook from \u201cstable\u201d to \u201cpositive\u201d due to the country\u2019s success in bringing the Covid-19 outbreak under control<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fitch Ratings forecasts Vietnam GDP will grow about 7 per cent in 2021 and 2022<\/strong> in line with the normalisation of domestic economic activity despite a slow vaccination programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the gambling sector, in March casino operators<\/a> asked the government to expand Vietnamese citizens\u2019 access to casinos<\/strong> in major tourism destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\nVietnam economy to improve in the following months<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n