Foreign borrowing and debt repayment activities require strict compliance with foreign exchange management regulations. As of 9 February 2026, Decree 340/2025/ND-CP of the Government dated 25 December 2025 prescribing penalties for administrative violations in monetary and banking sector (“Decree 340”) officially took effect, fully replacing Decree 88/2019/ND-CP (“Decree 88”). This article outlines the major regulatory changes under Decree 340 to assist enterprises in reviewing, standardizing, and ensuring compliance processes in order to mitigate legal risks.
1. Overview
Based on the provisions of the Decrees and guiding Circulars on foreign borrowing and debt repayment, particularly the key amendments under Decree 340, several important compliance obligations and administrative sanction levels are summarized as below and presented in detail in the following section.
2. Administrative sanctions in foreign borrowing and debt repayment
Decree 340 introduces adjustments to sanction levels for violations relating to registration procedures, disbursement and repayment processes, and notably falsifying documents, and misuse of borrowed funds. For ease of reference, the following visual comparison table of sanction levels between Decree 88 and Decree 340 is provided each group of acts.
Group of Violations | Sanction under Decree 88 (million VND) | Sanction under Decree 340 (million VND) | |
Failing to register/register changes on time | 20- 30 | 20 – 30 | |
Improper use of loan accounts (opening/closing/using) | 30 – 50 | 30 – 50 | |
Improper disbursement and repayment of foreign loans | 30 – 50 | 30 – 50 | |
Falsifying legal documents for loan registration | — | 30 – 50 | |
Misuse of foreign borrowed funds | — | 150 – 200 | |
Failing to comply with other regulations of law on foreign borrowing and debt repayment | 150 – 200 | 100 – 150 | |
Ghi chú: | The fine for every administrative violation prescribed in this table is imposed on a violating individual. The fine imposed on an organization is twice as much as the one imposed on an individual for committing the same administrative violation.[1] | ||
Organizations are the primary entities participating in foreign borrowing and debt repayment activities; therefore, the following analysis focuses on the sanction framework for organizations.
a. Group of acts of failing to comply with regulations of law on administrative procedures for registration or registration of changes in foreign loans
One of the requisite obligations of a borrower is to perform the registration of the loan with the State Bank of Vietnam for medium and long-term loans or short-term loans with a total term extended over 01 year.[2] furthermore, regarding failing to comply with regulations of law on administrative procedures for registration or registration of changes in foreign loans, Decree 340 inherits and maintains the sanction levels of Decree 88. The fine for this group of acts applied to organizations ranges from 40 million VND to 60 million VND.[3]
b. Group of acts of failing to comply with regulations on foreign borrowing and debt repayment
Similar to the previous provisions under Decree 88, Decree 340 maintains a fixed fine framework ranging from 60 million VND to 100 million VND applied to organizations for two groups of acts: failing to comply with regulations of law on the opening, closing, and use of accounts in Vietnam to perform foreign borrowing and debt repayment activities [4] and carrying out disbursement and repayment of foreign loans against regulations of law. [5] Notably, for other acts of failing to comply with regulations on foreign borrowing and debt repayment, Decree 340 has significantly adjusted and reduced the sanction levels. Instead of applying the range of 300 million VND to 400 million VND for organizations as previously prescribed, the new regulation only imposes a fine from 200 million VND to 300 million VND[6].
c. Group of acts regarding document fraud and misuse of funds
A notable new point of Decree 340 compared to previous regulations is the specification of sanctions for acts of fraud and misuse of funds; furthermore, these acts previously lacked a designated sanction framework under Decree 88. The act of falsifying or forging documents in administrative procedures for the registration or registration of changes in foreign loans, provided that such act is not liable to criminal prosecution, shall incur a fine ranging from 60 million VND to 100 million VND for organizations.[7] In particular, the act of using a foreign loan for purposes other than the ones approved according to regulations on eligibility requirements for foreign loans without the Government’s guarantee carries an exceptionally high fine framework; specifically, the fine for organizations ranges from 300 million VND to 400 million VND.[8]
3. Group of acts of failing to comply with regulations on periodic statistical reporting
Decree 340 prescribes a revised method for determining sanctions against periodic reporting obligations, establishes a system of penalties based on the frequency of recidivism. Decree 340 provides specific sanctions for the group of acts of failing to comply with regulations on time limits for submission of reports and reporting inaccurate information and data or incomplete content based on the frequency of violations. Specifically, for the act of reporting inaccurate information or data, the applied fine ranges from 20 million VND to 30 million VND in the case of a 1st violation[9]; this fine increases to 60 million VND for violations from the 2nd violation onwards[10]. Violating acts concerning time limits or requirements for completeness of reporting content shall incur a fine ranging from 10 million VND to 20 million VND for the 1st violation[11]; from the 2nd violation onwards, the fine for organizations may reach 60 million VND[12]. In addition to financial penalties, Decree 340 also prescribes remedial measures; specifically, the violating entity is compelled to submit complete and accurate reports for violations regarding requirements for completeness and accuracy. [13] The following summary table provides a comparison of changes in fine levels for this group of violations.
Violations | Fine under Decree 88 (million VND) | Fine under Decree 340 (million VND) | |||
Failing to submit complete forms of periodic statistical reports | 10 – 15 | 10 – 15 | |||
Submitting untruthful reports | 30 – 40 | 30 – 40 | |||
Reporting inaccurate information or data | 1st violation | — | 1st violation | 10 – 15 | |
From 2nd violation | 5 – 10 | From 2nd violation | 20 – 30 | ||
Submitting incomplete reporting forms | 10 – 15 | 1st violation | 5 – 10 | ||
From 2nd violation | 20 – 30 | ||||
Failing to comply with regulations on the timely submission of reports | 5 – 10 | 1st violation | 5 – 10 | ||
From 2nd violation | 20 – 30 | ||||
Ghi chú: | The fine for every administrative violation prescribed in this table is imposed on a violating individual. The fine imposed on an organization is twice as much as the one imposed on an individual for committing the same administrative violation.[14] | ||||
4. Power to impose administrative penalties of competent authorities in foreign borrowing and debt repayment
In addition to adjusting fine levels and supplementing remedial measures, Decree 340 standardizes the power to impose penalties based on the maximum fine imposed on an individual; furthermore, this approach aims to prevent overlapping jurisdiction among different titles. Within the scope of foreign borrowing and debt repayment activities, persons having the power to impose administrative penalties and remedial measures against administrative violations within their jurisdiction are summarized in the following table.
Competent authorities | Issue warning | Maximum fine (million VND) | Remedial measures |
1. BANKING INSPECTION FORCES | |||
On-duty banking inspectors | ✓ | 100 | — |
Heads of inspection teams established under decisions issued by the Chief Inspectors of SBV’s Regional Branches | ✓ | 500 | ✓ |
Chief Inspectors of SBV’s Regional Branches | ✓ | 800 | ✓ |
SBV’s Chief Inspector; Heads of inspection teams established under decisions issued by SBV’s Chief Inspector | ✓ | 1,000 | ✓ |
2. CHAIRPERSONS OF PEOPLE’S COMMITTEES AT ALL LEVELS | |||
Chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees | ✓ | 500 | ✓ |
Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees | ✓ | 1,000 | ✓ |
*Note: The fine for every administrative violation prescribed in this table is imposed on a violating individual, and it is determined on the basis of the maximum fine imposed on an individual. The fine imposed on an organization is twice as much as the one imposed on an individual for committing the same administrative violation[15].
[1] Article 5.3(a) Decree 340.
[2] Article 11 of Circular No. 12/2022/TT-NHNN of State Bank of Vietnam (“SBV”) dated 30 September 2022 on guidelines for foreign exchange administration in respect of enterprise’s foreign borrowing and foreign debt repayment of enterprises (as amended and supplemented by Clause 2 Article 3 of Circular No. 19/2024/TT-NHNN of SBV dated 28 June 2024 and Article 4 of Circular No. 80/2025/TT-NHNN of SBV dated 31 December 2025).
[3] Article 23.3(g) Decree 88, Article 27.3(g) Decree 340.
[4] Article 23.4(d) Decree 88, Article 27.4(d) Decree 340.
[5] Article 23.4(g) Decree 88, Article 27.4(g) Decree 340.
[6] Article 23.7(a) Decree 88, Article 27.6(c) Decree 340.
[7] Article 27.4(o) Decree 340.
[8] Article 27.7(a) Decree 340.
[9] Article 56.3 Decree 340.
[10] Article 56.4(c) Decree 340.
[11] Article 56.2(đ) Decree 340.
[12] Article 56.4 Decree 340.
[13] Article 56.8(a) Decree 340.
[14] Article 5.3(a) Decree 340.
[15] Article 5.3(c) Decree 340.
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