The State Bank of Vietnam ran a 17-25 September 2025 study programme in Switzerland and the United Kingdom under the technical assistance project “Promoting financial inclusion and climate finance”, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Led by Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung and joined by other Vietnamese government bodies and domestic commercial banks, the programme focused on fintech supervision models, digital asset policy and payment system modernisation to inform Vietnam’s work on digital banking and fintech policy. In Switzerland, engagements with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) covered principle-based regulation, guidance on fintech licences and a sandbox approach that includes a licence-exempt area, alongside Switzerland’s 2020 Distributed Ledger Technology Act and the consistent application of the travel rule and anti-money laundering measures for crypto-assets and stablecoins. A separate review with SECO assessed progress under the 2023-2028 programme, highlighting support for Vietnam’s controlled banking sandbox, rollout of ISO 20022 for the national interbank electronic payment system and development of the banking sector digital transformation strategy to 2030, while the State Bank of Vietnam proposed a new 2026-2029 technical assistance project focused on data modernisation, expanded financial access and enhanced training for senior managers. UK discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) compared sandbox models, with Vietnam’s mechanism described as allowing testing of three fintech solutions for up to two years, while the FCA highlighted a maximum six-month testing period, fast-track onboarding and initiatives such as an AI Lab with Nvidia, alongside reliance on existing regulatory frameworks for AI. The Bank of England presented its Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) modernisation roadmap, including ISO 20022 adoption, support for instant payments and liquidity-saving mechanisms, and the Prudential Regulation Authority outlined its “same risk same regulation” approach and a three-stage authorisation process for new banks without a dedicated digital bank licence, noting that 41 banking start-ups have been authorised since 2013 and more than 20 have since ceased operating.

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