FTSE Russell has announced that Vietnam will be reclassified from a Frontier to a Secondary Emerging market effective 21 September 2026, pending an interim review in March 2026, according to the firm’s Country Classification September 2025 Announcement → view source.
The decision follows reforms last year that removed the pre-funding requirement for foreign institutional investors and introduced a formal process for handling failed trades, meaning Vietnam now meets all technical criteria under the FTSE Equity Country Classification Framework.
However, full implementation depends on Vietnam allowing foreign investors to trade through global brokers, a key condition for enabling index replication.
“Given the importance of this issue to index users, the IGB has determined that addressing the access of global brokers is essential for the reclassification to proceed,” the announcement says.
It notes, however, that authorities are developing a model to facilitate this access and align local practices with international standards.
Assuming all goes to plan, the reclassification will occur in phased tranches, with final confirmation and implementation details to be announced after the March 2026 review.
See also: Vietnam’s Stock Market Upgrade Opportunity: Unpacked