A September 30 deadline for trading firms to connect an individual’s trading account with their national IDs has now passed with some securities firms reporting that as little as ten percent of their customers have complied, according to Tuoi Tre. The State Securities Commission has “recommended” that securities firms cease to allow online trading for customers that are not in compliance and instead require them to perform transactions over the counter.
These requirements are in line with what has been dubbed Project 6, which requires most financial services accounts to be connected with a citizen’s national ID. This is ostensibly designed to make data collection easier, more transparent and subsequently simplify administrative procedures. It could, however, also be seen as streamlining and simplifying digital surveillance.
That said, with respect to securities, 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.
This may, however, conflict with Vietnam’s Stock Market Development Strategy which specifically targets 9 million trading accounts by 2025 and 11 million accounts by 2030.
See also: Vietnam Securities Industry