Vietnam’s brokerages race to bulk up for market status upgrade

Vietnamese securities firms are accelerating large-scale capital hikes as the stock market edges closer to emerging-market status, betting big on a fresh wave of liquidity.

Vietnam’s stock market is approaching a pivotal milestone: an upgrade from frontier to emerging market status by FTSE Russell. At the same time, it is working toward meeting the criteria of the MSCI, a move that would bring it closer to the standards of developed markets.

Against this backdrop, securities firms - the backbone of the market- are rushing to strengthen their financial capacity, expand infrastructure, and diversify products to meet rising demand from both local and international investors. The result is an intensifying capital-raising race that shows no sign of slowing.

Kicking off the Lunar New Year (the Year of the Horse), VIX Securities (HoSE: VIX) unveiled a plan to issue 919 million shares, boosting its charter capital by 60% to VND24.5 trillion ($936.8 million). Shareholders will be entitled to buy 60 new shares for every 100 held, with March 9 set as the record date.

Priced at VND12,000 ($0.46) per share, the offering is expected to raise VND11.03 trillion ($421.56 million). Of that, VND1 trillion will be injected into VIX Digital Asset Exchange JSC (VIXEX), while the remainder will fund proprietary trading and margin lending.

Established in August 2025 with charter capital of VND1 trillion ($38.23 million), VIXEX is 15% owned by VIX Securities. Under the government’s pilot framework for digital assets, exchanges must have minimum capital of VND10 trillion, prompting VIXEX to scale up tenfold. VIX plans to contribute an additional VND1.35 trillion to maintain its stake, positioning itself to capture growth in Vietnam’s nascent digital-asset market and broaden its revenue base.

Meanwhile, VPS Securities (HoSE: VPK) has approved a 60% bonus share issuance, distributing 913 million shares from share premium. The move will lift its charter capital from VND15.2 trillion to VND24.35 trillion ($931 million).

After a series of rapid capital increases last year, from VND5.7 trillion to VND15.2 trillion ($581.15 million), VPS is poised to overtake Techcombank Securities (TCBS) as the second-largest brokerage by charter capital, just behind industry leader SSI Securities, whose capital stands at VND24.93 trillion.

Not to be left behind, Vietcap Securities (HoSE: VCI) will issue 297.5 million bonus shares at a 35% ratio, raising its charter capital from VND8.5 trillion to VND11.48 trillion ($438.92 million). In the final quarter of last year, the firm completed a private placement of 127.5 million shares at VND31,000 ($1.19) each, mobilizing nearly VND4 trillion to fund investment and lending operations.

While large bonus issuances and rights offerings may dilute share prices in the short term, analysts see the strategy as necessary to keep pace with the market’s rapid expansion.

Vietnam’s stock market capitalization soared 39.2% in 2025 to nearly VND9,986 trillion ($381.8 billion), equivalent to 86.7% of 2024 GDP. With anticipated catalysts including a formal upgrade by FTSE Russell and the full rollout of the KRX trading system, regulators are targeting market capitalization of at least 100% of GDP this year.