Vietnam to let foreign investors place orders directly via global brokers

Vietnam plans to allow foreign investors to place orders directly through global brokerage firms, a move aimed at easing access to its stock market after a long-awaited upgrade to "secondary emerging" market status, a top regulator said.

Bui Hoang Hai, Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission (SSC), said regulators are preparing the necessary legal and operational framework to enable the change.

“This will shorten the onboarding process for foreign investors and bring domestic trading practices closer to international standards,” Hai said at a securities forum in Hanoi on Thursday.

The SSC and the Ministry of Finance are rolling out a set of measures to attract more overseas funds following Vietnam’s promotion by FTSE Russell earlier this month.

The country is seeking to address long-standing issues such as information disclosure in English, settlement mechanisms, and the limited role of global custodians and brokers.

“We’ve only been upgraded for less than two weeks, but we can already feel the strong interest from global investors,” Hai said. “Many funds that had never looked at Vietnam before are now actively exploring opportunities.”

FTSE Russell, in its September review, had flagged restricted access for global brokers as one of Vietnam’s remaining hurdles. Allowing them to execute orders directly for clients is seen as a key step toward aligning the market with global norms and reducing counterparty risk.

According to SSI Research, the SSC is developing a framework that would authorize international brokerage firms to trade on behalf of foreign clients. The proposal has received positive initial feedback, though market participants say operational details still need refinement. SSI expects the revisions to be completed before FTSE’s mid-year review in March 2026.

Authorities are also preparing supporting measures such as foreign exchange hedging tools and a review of foreign ownership limits to improve access for overseas investors.

On the supply side, the government plans to link IPOs more tightly with stock listings through a new decree and is working on regulations that would allow foreign-invested companies to list on Vietnam’s exchanges. It is also developing rules for infrastructure-related bonds and expanding local index and fund products.

Hai described the upgrade as “a development milestone, not a crown,” saying the market’s ultimate goal is to translate the change into tangible contributions to the economy.