Vietnam accelerates capital market reforms to boost foreign investor access

Vietnam accelerates capital market reforms to boost foreign investor access

Vietnam's State Securities Commission has highlighted a series of reforms aimed at improving market accessibility, transparency, and operational capacity at a capital market dialogue in Singapore.

The event took place on June 2 as part of the official visit to Singapore by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam. The dialogue served as an update on Vietnam's capital markets and brought together Vietnamese and international financial officials and investors.

SSC chairwoman Vu Thi Chan Phuong

"Vietnam's economy has continued to maintain stability, with inflation under control and growth achieving many positive results in recent years, particularly throughout 2025 and the first months of 2026," said State Securities Commission (SSC) chairwoman Vu Thi Chan Phuong. "These factors have provided an important foundation for the recovery and development of Vietnam's stock market."

She said that as of mid-May 2026, Vietnam's stock market capitalisation had reached approximately $410 billion, while average daily trading value on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange stood at around $1.2 billion per session.

"The market has seen multiple initial public offerings associated with listings, while increasingly attracting interest from foreign-invested enterprises exploring and preparing for listings on Vietnam's stock market," she added.

Phuong explained that alongside market development, Vietnam has implemented a range of important reforms aimed at improving market accessibility for foreign investors. These include the introduction of a non-prefunding mechanism for foreign institutional investors, as well as major administrative reforms related to the opening of indirect investment accounts and securities trading accounts, thereby creating further enhancements for international capital flows to participate in the market.

In addition, the stock market’s new IT system has been operational since May 2025, contributing to enhanced operational capacity and supporting the market’s development requirements. Improvements in corporate governance, information transparency, the development of intermediary institutions and diversification of investment products have also continued to receive attention.

Several important initiatives, including the stock market upgrade, the investment fund industry development scheme and investor education and training activities, are being implemented in a coordinated and effective manner.

"We will continue improving the legal framework, enhancing market openness in line with international practices, developing modern financial products and services, while boosting institutional investor development and improving the quality of retail investors," said Phuong.

"The SSC will also maintain regular dialogue mechanisms with the international investment community through advisory groups to promptly address emerging issues and obstacles," she added

In the short term, the SSC is focusing on several key priorities: building and launching a central counterparty clearing (CCP) mechanism expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2027; proposing amendments to the Securities Law and related regulations to improve the investment environment; studying solutions related to foreign ownership limits; and strengthening market supervision capacity to enhance transparency, operational efficiency, and the market's ability to meet development requirements in the new phase.

Bui Hoang Hai from SSC, Pankaj Mataney from MSCI, Simon Williams from BlackRock, and Gary Harron from HSBC Vietnam at a panel discussion

The discussion session featured active exchanges between investors, financial institutions and international market participants, focusing on the long-term prospects of Vietnam’s capital market.

Participants highly appreciated the reform determination of the government and regulators in developing the capital market into a primary medium- and long-term capital channel for the economy. They also acknowledged ongoing reforms aimed at improving transparency, operational efficiency and market accessibility for foreign investors.

Many participants expressed interest in Vietnam’s market upgrade roadmap, the implementation of new mechanisms such as CCP and omnibus trading accounts (OTA), as well as solutions for developing the corporate bond market, risk hedging instruments and expanding the scale of the foreign exchange market.

Investors also noted that Vietnam possesses many advantages in attracting long-term capital flows, thanks to its positive economic growth outlook, increasingly important role in global supply chains and strong commitment to structural reforms aimed at building a modern, transparent and internationally integrated capital market.

Representing the regulator, SSC vice chairman Bui Hoang Hai directly engaged with international investors during the discussion session regarding key orientations and solutions being implemented in Vietnam, including efforts to improve market mechanisms and infrastructure in line with international practices. These include solutions such as OTA, the CCP mechanism, and connectivity systems between securities firms and custodian banks to facilitate transaction processing and improve market access for foreign investors.

He also highlighted ongoing efforts to accelerate equitisation and state divestment, develop the fund management industry, diversify investment products and expand the supply of high-quality listed assets for the market.

These measures are being implemented in a coordinated manner under the framework of Vietnam’s Stock Market Development Strategy to 2030, with the goal of building a modern, transparent and efficient capital market capable of better meeting the economy’s capital mobilisation needs.

Representatives of the regulator stated that the SSC remains open to listening to feedback from experts and international investors to further improve the legal framework for Vietnam’s stock market and move closer to global best practices.

As part of its working programme in Singapore, the SSC also held meetings with Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), the Association of Global Custodians, as well as various investment organisations, financial institutions and international market participants to discuss developments in Vietnam’s stock market, MSCI’s market upgrade criteria, the CCP mechanism, improving market accessibility for foreign investors and solutions for developing Vietnam’s capital market in a transparent, efficient and internationally integrated direction.

VIR