Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has asked the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to promptly complete decrees guiding the Law on Insurance Business and submit them to the government for issuance, to help develop a healthy and sustainable insurance market.

Concluding a recent meeting on the provision of life insurance services, the Deputy Prime Minister said the insurance market posted average growth of 21 per cent annually during the 2018-2022 period, contributing to ensuring social security and mobilizing long-term capital sources for the economy as well as creating more jobs.

However, information from the media shows there were cases in which banking employees forced customers to buy insurance before they were issued bank loans. Some insurance companies and agents provided unclear information on insurance products, creating misunderstanding.

In order to develop a healthy insurance market and protect the legitimate rights and interests of insurance buyers, Deputy Prime Minister Khai asked the MoF to study and supplement regulations to enhance the responsibilities of insurance businesses in improving the quality of insurance agents and supervising consultancy activities of insurance agents to ensure the provision of transparent information to customers.

The MoF was also instructed to supplement regulations on administrative fines for violations in the field of insurance trading, in order to tackle shortcomings in life insurance services. Supervision and inspection will be strengthened to detect and strictly punish violators.

The State Bank of Vietnam was required to review and handle any problems relating to the operation of insurance trading at banks and banking employees forcing customers to buy insurance products, to mitigate any reputational damage to banks and protect the legitimate rights and interests of customers.