VPBank is the only representative of Việt Nam selected by CELENT for the "Model Risk Manager" prize. — Photo courtesy of the bank

HÀ NỘI — VPBank is the only representative of Việt Nam selected by CELENT for the "Model Risk Manager" prize thanks to Oracle's advanced technology in anti-money laundering risk management.

The award given by CELENT, a research and consulting company for the global financial services industry, aims to examine the applicability of the technology in financial risk management, operational risk management, cross-border risk and financial crime.

The judging panel, including analysts and experts, will select winners based on three criteria: innovation, applied technology and excellence in implementation by evaluating business interests.

VPBank has continuously expanded co-operation with a series of large domestic and international financial institutions and enterprises in recent years.

This makes VPBank realise the need to invest heavily in advanced technology systems to address legal, compliance and financial risks and potential reputational risks that will arise in the future.

Through a long testing, research, and refinement process, VPBank decided to choose Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications (OFSAA).

This is the world's leading information technology system for money-laundering prevention and combat, operated by large financial institutions belonging to the Wolfsberg association (a group of 13 major global banks operating to develop frameworks and financial crime risk management guidelines) such as Barclays, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase.

VPBank is the first domestic bank to implement this system in Việt Nam.

Nguyễn Thành Long, Deputy General Director cum Head of Legal and Compliance Division of VPBank, said OFSAA meets all the purposes set forth by the bank.

The system helps perform all tasks related to anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing, anti-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, compliance with sanctions on one platform instead of using many distributed systems as before.

With high-precision algorithms operating 100 per cent automatically, the OFSAA system enhances the ability to detect risks related to embargo/sanctions and shortens the processing time by 80 per cent.

Thanks to advice from many leading experts and practical experience, VPBank has set up many scenarios on anti-money laundering to detect suspicious transactions by an automated system.

The script system is constantly updated to ensure that suspicious transactions are not missed.

Long added that the OFSAA had helped VPBank comply with the requirements of laws and international practices on anti-money laundering in increasing financial crimes in number and sophistication.

VPBank overcame a difficult initial implementation phase by implementing large-scale training, applying strict sanctions and continuous improvement based on comments.

The system is successfully operating, bringing real benefits to customers, partners and investors.

The decision to invest heavily in advanced technology systems to control risks is a bold decision of VPBank during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has a major impact on the bank's business.

However, realising that this is an inevitable trend of the financial industry in the future, VPBank aims to ensure the safety of customer transactions and investor cash flow first. This is an investment that is worth it and benefits all parties. — VNS