Global financial giants keen on Vietnam's capital market, digital assets market

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh on Tuesday met with executives from leading global financial institutions in New York who expressed their interest in Vietnam's capital market and digital assets market.

The meetings, part of Binh's working visit to New York, aimed to promote cooperation in developing the International Financial Center (IFC) in Vietnam. The entities included Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Anchorage Digital, and Pendle.

Vietnam is building its IFC, located in both Ho Chi Minh City and Danang - economic hubs in the southern and central regions, respectively.

During the discussions, Deputy PM Binh noted that the IFC is intended to become an effective capital mobilization channel, supporting the country's transition to a new growth model and its goal of achieving growth of 10% or higher in the coming development phase.

He emphasized that the legal framework for the center has been largely completed, featuring preferential and breakthrough policies, and encouraged firms to propose policy recommendations and consider becoming early investors.

At a meeting with the Vietnamese leader, Jeffery Margolick, head of product management-depositary receipts at Deutsche Bank, said Vietnam is a priority market for multinational corporations.

The German bank is seeking to expand cooperation in trade finance, corporate treasury services, and support for government bond issuance to fund infrastructure.

To enhance the IFC’s attractiveness, Deutsche Bank proposed easing credit rating thresholds and reviewing minimum capital requirements, offering comprehensive foreign exchange hedging products for non-resident clients, adopting common law to improve transparency and international compatibility, and completing the legal framework for depositary certificates to expand channels for raising international capital.

Deutsche Bank has cooperated with Vietnam since 1972 and currently provides international payments, foreign exchange and trade finance services to more than 17 domestic financial institutions, according the goverrnment's news portal.

Echoing this view, in a seperate meeting, Evan Damast, co-head of global capital markets at Morgan Stanley, described Vietnam as a high-growth and sustainable market.

The investment bank is interested in furthering cooperation in capital raising, IPOs, debt markets and alternative asset management.

It recommended that Vietnam continue promoting its investment achievements and financial infrastructure development to attract long-term foreign capital from overseas investment funds.

Meeting with Binh, Mark Erickson, global insurance strategist of BlackRock's Financial Institutions Group, introduced the Aladdin investment management platform, which integrates traditional and decentralized finance, including crypto, stablecoins and tokenization.

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager which owns the Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) fund managing about $200 billion in infrastructure assets.

Erickson highlighted Vietnam’s potential in energy transition and renewable energy. The firm recommended improving transparency and policy disclosure to enhance market liquidity, developing capital market infrastructure such as derivatives and asset tokenization, and simplifying account opening procedures for international investors.

The discussions also reflected strong interest from fintech and digital asset firms.

Sonal Desai, executive vice president and chief investment officer for Franklin Templeton Fixed Income, presented blockchain-based financial solutions, including 24/7 investment funds with real-time yield accrual.

She recommended that Vietnam establish a clear legal framework and regulatory sandbox for digital asset services, develop supporting infrastructure such as digital wallets and access systems, and leverage blockchain for instant payments linking traditional finance with digital assets.

Similarly, Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital - the first federally chartered digital asset bank in the United States - said the company focuses on custody, payments and digital financial infrastructure for large institutions, with the goal of integrating stablecoins into the global financial system in a role similar to SWIFT.

McCauley stressed that Anchorage Digital is ready to participate in Vietnam’s IFC through partnerships, joint ventures and technology transfer.

He recommended prioritizing a legal framework for digital banking before expanding to retail, recognizing stablecoins as payment instrumentsm establishing internationally compatible regulations, and promoting sandbox mechanisms for interbank payments using digital assets.

In the field of asset tokenization, Lee Tsun Ngai, co-founder and CEO of Pendle, said Vietnam has a strong talent pool and is a promising market for tokenized assets such as bonds, ETFs, and private credit.

With an existing presence in Hanoi and a network of more than 200 institutional clients, Pendle proposed establishing sandbox models for both permissioned and permissionless digital assets to determine suitable use cases.

In response, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said he welcomes the detailed recommendations and reaffirmed that Vietnam is committed to building a stable, transparent and investor-friendly environment.

"The government will continue refining the legal and operational framework for the IFC and actively implement sandbox mechanisms to pilot innovative models and products, enabling partners to leverage capital, technology and governance expertise while helping to build a modern, secure and globally integrated financial ecosystem," he added.