Rules need to make public bond issuance outpace private placement: experts

Vietnamese regulators need to fasten and simplify legal steps to encourage public bond issuances as enterprises usually opt for private placements, say experts.

“Almost all best companies in Vietnam did not issue bonds to the public, they chose private placements,” Le Xuan Nghia, a National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council member, told a Friday workshop in Hanoi which discussed the impact of Decree 65/2022 dated September 16 on issuing corporate bonds via private placements.

Explaining the problem, Do Ngoc Quynh, general secretary of Vietnam Bond Market Association, said a public issuance would cost enterprises too much time, thus affecting their business plans.

To issue bonds to the public, an enterprise must obtain approval from a general meeting of shareholders, and submit the application to the State Securities Commission for approval. Then, it must submit required listing and trading documents. It usually takes a long time to progress.

“Meanwhile, as for a private placement, enterprises do it themselves, with responsibility of just submitting a report,” Quynh noted.

Quynh added he believed that was why the amount of private placements has recently skyrocketed, contrary to public issuances.

In 2021, corporate bonds issued to the public accounted for just about 5% of all issued bonds despite the fact that the coupon rates in public placements were normally about half compared with the other type.

At present, it takes about six months at the soonest or 12 months at the longest to issue corporate bonds to the public, according to him.

“Many leading businesses did not choose public placements though this way is more profitable because it can mobilize capital from the public, not to mention lower coupon rates. A successful public placement also helps enterprises build up their standing.”

Nguyen Quang Thuan, chairman of Fiin Group, which provides financial data and credit rating reports, said Vietnam may study a Malaysia model in which if getting an AAA credit rating, a business can issue bonds to the public before all relevant documents are appraised.

This is also an international practice, he stressed, adding that credit rating agencies must be totally reliable.