Services & Trade

As of late October, 725 stocks and fund certificates were listed on Vietnam’s main exchanges, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), while 885 stocks were registered on the Unlisted Public Companies (UPCoM) platform…

Tuoi Tre is covering the expectations of market watchers that this will give the market a welcome boost, Dau Tu Online on the other hand is suggesting that local securities firms with large cash buffers stand to benefit most, and VN Economy, conversely, has pointed out that after coming into effect there have still been large net cash outflows from the market from foreign investors.

Notably, in the first half of 2024, Vingroup sold the majority of its equity capital of Vincom Retail, which owns and leases a range of commercial spaces around Vietnam. This led to leasing revenue declining by 46 percent…

In contrast to these positive business results, SSB’s stock has fallen by around 20 percent since the start of the year. It’s not clear why this might be but pundits have noted that 42 million shares issued to staff on an employee share program in 2023 have now vested and it could be that these are being sold off…

September also witnessed a sharp increase in trading activity, with the average daily trading value rising to VND 15.867 trillion per session or US$634.68 million, up 14.9 percent from the previous month…

These new regulations are designed to simplify the procedures and documentation required for opening indirect investment accounts, removing the need for consular legalisation for foreign-language documents. It would also introduce the option for foreign investors to open accounts electronically. Additionally, the circular would permit foreign investors to open multiple indirect investment accounts, providing greater flexibility for their investment activities…

FTSE Russell notes that reforms have been made with respect to removing pre-funding requirements for foreign investors per a circular issued by the Ministry of Finance back in September, but goes on to say that Vietnam still needs to reform its registration process for new accounts and to come up with a way for foreign investors to more efficiently trade stocks when foreign ownership ratios are nearing their limits.

The biggest improvement belonged to Viet Cap Securities which saw a 1.46 percent increase in its market share with the biggest fall belonging to VNDirect which lost .76 percent. However,  Vietcombank Securities Company dropped out of the top ten altogether and therefore how much its share changed is unknown. Of note, FPT Securities moved in to take Vietcombank Securities’ place…

TPBank’s net interest income increased by 14.2 percent, aligning with the broader trend seen across banks like VPBank, HDBank, and VietinBank, which also experienced significant growth in net interest income. This increase was driven by a stable macroeconomic environment and recovering credit demand, contrasting with 2023’s challenges when deposit interest costs exceeded lending income.

There were around 8 million active trading accounts last count but these are clearly not all being used. In October last year, MB Securities closed over half a million accounts that had been opened with the firm but had never recorded a transaction. This is just one of around 20 to 30 brokerages in Vietnam too, and in this context, this ID requirement may see many more accounts closed…