The Panama Papers illustrates how wealthy individuals, including public officials, are able to keep their personal financial information secret. — Photo indianexpress.com

HA NOI (Biz Hub) – Local ministries and agencies have affirmed that they would continuously verify information related to Vietnamese persons and companies listed in the Panama Papers, and act on the information.

The action would be taken in accordance with Viet Nam's legal regulations, they added.

The announcement came after several Vietnamese names were included in a huge database of secret offshore companies, as part of the Panama Papers and Offshore Leaks investigations posted online this week.

Pham Trong Dat, director general of the Government Inspectorate's Anti-corruption Bureau, said what had been unveiled in the Panama Papers should be considered a source of reference for Viet Nam's relevant agencies to verify.

It is important to clarify the accuracy of that data first so as to take the following steps, he noted, and added that the data was not official information released by foreign authorised agencies, but an agency founded by international journalists.

The inspectorate has reported the information to the Government and the Party Central Committee, he said.

The Vietnamese persons and companies listed in the Panama Papers should also be examined, Dat said.

He noted that just because persons and businesses had been named in the Panama Papers did not mean they had violated the law, and there was a need to verify the information.

Representatives from the General Department of Taxation said that the department had also set up a board to verify the information.

However, they added that the verification would take time as the information must be considered very carefully with the participation of not only taxation but also many other relevant ministries and agencies.

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has so far also entrusted its relevant agencies to closely check on the Panama Papers, Nguyen Van Ngoc, director of the SBV's National Anti-Money Laundering Department, said.

Ngoc said that the department would also co-operate with other relevant ministries and agencies to deal with the cases in accordance with their respective functions and the country's legal regulations.

Although some Vietnamese names were published in the Panama Papers, no detailed information on the operations or transactions undertaken in the cases has been published as yet, he said.

According to Ngoc, Viet Nam's foreign currency regulations are currently adequate to cover a range of issues, from payment transactions to money transfers in and out of Viet Nam for current accounts, capital transactions and opening of foreign accounts.

Truong Van Phuoc, deputy chairman of National Financial Supervisory Commission, said it would not be sufficient to conclude if Panama-linked companies and individual are involved in tax evasion or not.

A conclusion on money-laundering or tax evasion of persons and companies listed in the Panama Papers must be based on how the country with a parent company regulates operations along with its subsidiary.

Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, chairman of BASICO Law Firm, said this was a case without precedent so it had no specific regulations or procedures. Especially, he said, it was not just related to Viet Nam but also many other countries.

Therefore, Duc said, domestic relevant ministries and agencies should ask the named persons and companies to report why they were listed in the Panama Papers, and then verify the information.

It is necessary to exchange information with other countries to be able to better verify the cases, however, it is not feasible unless Viet Nam has signed agreements on fighting crime, legal assistance or taxation avoidance with the countries, Duc said.

The Panama Papers, disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) after they were obtained from Panama law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, includes 11.5 million documents, some of which date back to the 1970s, that detail the financial and the attorney-client information of more than 214,488 offshore entities.

Preliminary investigation by the ICIJ found that the law firm created offshore companies to help some 140 politicians, including 12 serving or former world leaders, along with sports stars and drug dealers to evade tax payments.

After first reports published by the media on April 3, ICIJ this week continuously published more data from the Panama Papers, in which 189 companies and individuals are in Viet Nam.

Some Vietnamese entrepreneurs named in the Panama Papers, who work in the financial, real estate, securities and consultancy sectors, have so far confirmed their names but claim their overseas investments are legal.

The revealed information has not so far had a negative impact on local markets. – VNS