Hanoi University of Business and Technology uses dry signatures on accounting documents against regulations

At the Government press conference on the afternoon of June 1, the press questioned the case of Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) using dry signatures on accounting documents.

According to the provisions of the Accounting Law, only two types of signatures are legally recognized: wet signatures and electronic signatures. So is this behavior of HUBT a violation of the law? How will the Ministry of Finance investigate and handle it? Will this affect hundreds of teachers and thousands of students of the school after graduation?

Regular Government press conference in May. Photo: QUANG PHUC

Responding to this issue, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said that recently, according to reports, HUBT used dry signatures on accounting documents and had a number of other violations.

Regarding the use of signatures on accounting documents, according to Article 19 of the 2015 Accounting Law, signatures on accounting documents must be registered with indelible ink, not red ink, or stamped with a pre-engraved signature. Electronic documents must have electronic signatures, and signatures on electronic documents are as valid as signatures on paper documents. Compared with the provisions of the 2015 Accounting Law, HUBT's use of dry signatures on documents is contrary to the provisions of the law on accounting.

The Ministry of Finance will direct the tax authorities and other competent agencies of the Ministry of Finance to supervise and inspect HUBT in implementing the law on finance and accounting, especially the implementation of the law on accounting. When we have the results, we will notify the press.

“We affirm that we will have to ensure strict implementation of financial and accounting regulations with educational institutions as well as people’s production and business establishments. The Ministry of Finance will protect the legitimate rights of related subjects, if this violation of HUBT affects the rights of teachers, students, and other related subjects,” said Mr. Nguyen Duc Chi.

Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi. Photo: QUANG PHUC

Also related to this school, the press said that the Prime Minister had issued a document requesting HUBT to convert public to private, but so far the directive has not been implemented, while the operation process has many violations in finance and enrollment.

At the press conference, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son said that currently, there is only one school left in the country, Phuong Dong Private University, which has not yet converted to private status according to regulations, but has submitted its application to the Ministry of Education and Training. The Ministry has reviewed the application and requested the school to complete some contents.

For HUBT, there was a decision to convert from private to public since 2019. However, the school has not yet established a School Council. In carrying out its state management responsibilities, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued many documents urging schools when there is a decision to convert from private to public, to continue to perfect the apparatus, especially the establishment of the School Council.

With the responsibility of state management, the Ministry of Education and Training manages training work; and in terms of organizational structure and asset management, for public universities, the governing bodies are ministries, branches, and localities; private universities are managed locally.

The Ministry of Education and Training has repeatedly urged, reminded, worked with representatives of HUBT's stakeholders and guided the school, but this issue is mainly related to the interests of investors.

Regarding issues related to enrollment and training, from 2020 to present, the Ministry of Education and Training has conducted 1 inspection and 4 checks on the school's training and enrollment activities, discovering 2 violations related to joint training and enrollment exceeding the prescribed number. The Ministry of Education and Training has imposed administrative sanctions. Since 2020, the Ministry of Education and Training has also determined the school's quota according to the law; recently, the Ministry of Education and Training also issued a decision to impose sanctions for the delay in establishing the School Council.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son. Photo: QUANG PHUC

Regarding the student's Graduation Certificate with the dry signature of the HUBT Principal, the Ministry of Education and Training has carefully reviewed the provisions of the law. On tax, financial documents have very clear regulations on wet signatures and electronic signatures, in addition, there are no other regulations on whether or not dry signatures can be used.

According to the Deputy Minister, in fact, the Graduation Certificate is the final certification that the learner's learning process meets the requirements of the training program; once a decision has been made to grant a Graduation Certificate, the quality control and legality of the diploma cannot be determined only on the diploma but also on the diploma issuance book, certificate, and the school's decision to grant the diploma.

Therefore, graduates from HUBT still use their degrees as usual, because when verifying degrees, recruiting agencies do not just look at the degree, but importantly verify whether this student was actually enrolled, trained, and awarded a degree.

"Thus, there is currently no legal regulation on whether or not dry signatures can be used, and in this case, it does not affect the rights of learners," Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son said.

PHAN THAO

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/truong-dai-hoc-kinh-doanh-va-cong-nghe-ha-noi-su-dung-chu-ky-kho-tren-chung-tu-ke-toan-trai-quy-dinh-post742558.html