Vietnamese banks tighten payment rules for Russian companies over sanctions risk

Vietnamese banks have started imposing additional requirements on Russian companies when processing payments.

Source: The Moscow Times, an independent Amsterdam-based news outlet, citing Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet RBC

Details: Now, funds can be transferred only in two cases: when the goods are actually delivered to Vietnam, or when a citizen of the republic is among the counterparty company's founders.

Banks are concerned about secondary Western sanctions over transactions with Russia.

The new requirements, introduced in mid-summer 2025, have led to cases of transfers being delayed or blocked for failing to meet these conditions.

Banks now demand a full set of documents - a contract, invoice and transport and customs papers confirming the transaction’s link to Vietnam. If no goods are to be shipped to the country, they instead require an "anchor" such as a local founder, an office, or a long-term contract with a Vietnamese partner.

This helps banks prove to the regulator that the transaction is related to the local economy and does not intend to evade sanctions.

Almost nothing has changed for Russian companies that purchase or process goods in Vietnam, but transactions have become so complicated that businesses have to look for alternatives in other Asian jurisdictions.

Sources told The Moscow Times that Vietnamese banks began tightening conditions in 2024, influenced by the US presidential decree of 22 December 2023 imposing sanctions on transactions benefiting the Russian defence sector, and by the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s 12 June 2024 clarification on secondary sanctions.

There is no formal ban on payments without a link to Vietnam, but banks have taken the US measures as a signal of increased caution.

Background: The introduction of US tariffs ranging from 20% to 40% could reduce Vietnam's exports to the United States by a third to US$37 billion.

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