The department asked the bodies to strictly follow regulations on customer identification, updating customer information, reviewing transactions and carefully monitoring transactions by high-risk customers.

They were also told to send reports on suspicious transactions and reports on cash transactions worth 300 million VND (12,800 USD) or more to the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management under the Ministry of Construction and the State Bank of Vietnam's Anti-Money Laundering Department.

The municipal department also asked real estate firms to send reports on national risk assessment on money laundering and terrorist financing at their own organisations to the departments before September 15 this year to collect statistics.

It requested its construction inspectors to strengthen inspection and examination at real estate companies, ensuring compliance to laws on the prevention of money laundering, and sending reports to the municipal Department of Construction.

According to a report by the HCM City People's Committee, in August alone, the city saw 28,465 newly licensed businesses with total registered capital of 456 trillion VND, of which the number of real estate businesses was 7.3 percent.

However, in terms of registered capital, real estate businesses accounted for the highest proportion (39.6 percent), followed by construction (17.3 percent), then wholesale and retail.

Regarding the development of foreign direct investment enterprises, in the first eight months of 2019, the city granted new investment registration certificates to 816 projects with total investment capital of more than 750 million USD. Real estate business lured the highest capital proportion (33.2 percent), followed by science and technology (30.1 percent), wholesale and retail (18.7 percent). — VNS/VNA