News about securities law

On the morning of 28 October, the National Assembly debated a draft law amending several articles of the Securities Law, focusing on the standards for legal representatives of securities companies and fund management companies. Delegate Tô Ái Vang argued that requiring the Chairman of the Board of Directors to hold a professional practice certificate confuses strategic oversight with operational roles, and proposed that this requirement apply only to the General Director (or Director) and deputy general directors in charge of professional operations. Delegates Bùi Xuân Hải, Đỗ Đức Hiển and Nguyễn Thị Yến Nhi objected to the draft dropping the condition that individuals sanctioned for administrative violations in the securities sector within the past 6 months cannot become General Director, and jointly proposed retaining it.

National Assembly deputy Trần Hoàng Ngân said more than 14 million individual and institutional accounts are trading on the stock market, so modern IT infrastructure must be funded to keep the market running continuously, safely and transparently, moving toward trading without a lunch break. He noted Vietnam's stock market is 26 years old and has had 1-2 crashes that halted trading and forced closures, and urged state support for infrastructure investment. Deputy Nguyễn Hải Nam proposed allowing loss-making firms with partial state capital to publicly disclose information for competitive auctions of divestments, provided the disclosure clearly warns of their losses. Deputy Bùi Xuân Hải noted the draft does not define the 'securities industry', so incentive policies for its workforce need further consideration.

PGS.TS Trần Hoàng Ngân proposes investing in modern IT infrastructure so the stock market can move toward trading through the lunch break and continuously 24/7, after several market outages since operations began in July 2000 and with over 14 million accounts now. He stresses the need for high-quality human resources to oversee and inspect trades so that manipulation can be detected promptly. Delegate Bùi Xuân Hải says the draft's talent-retention policies are too general because it does not define the securities sector. Finance Minister Ngô Văn Tuấn says the current system has run relatively stably but the country must master the technology to repair and upgrade it, and notes that between 2010 and 2012, 180 of the Securities Commission's 300 staff applied to leave for businesses. The Commission is asking exchanges to assess the impact of options such as trading through the lunch break, wider price bands and dropping some periodic call auction sessions, without setting an implementation date. The bill will be voted on at the 13 November session and, if passed, take effect on 1 March 2027.

The State Securities Commission published a draft law amending the Securities Law: 44 Articles revised, one added and 91 kept unchanged. For practising certificates, applicants must pass a qualifying exam, securities firms may enter client contracts in writing or by lawful e-transaction, and each securities company or fund manager must have at least one legal representative meeting General Director standards. The draft drops the ban on reissuing certificates to those revoked for prohibited acts, but adds revocation for missing annual training or not working for a certificate-using organization for three consecutive years. For investment funds, it allows portfolio and asset swaps for fund certificates and lets the fund representative board approve annual financial, asset and operating reports.