Vietnam's central bank requests minimizing account opening time for foreign investors

The State Bank of Vietnam has required commercial banks and foreign bank branches to promptly and synchronously implement the provisions in two new circulars so as to minimize the account opening time for foreign investors conducting indirect investments.

The order was mentioned in the central bank's (SBV) Document No. 8292/NHNN-QLNH released on Tuesday.

The two SBV circulars are Circular 03/2025/TT-NHNN regulating the opening and use of Vietnamese dong accounts to carry out foreign indirect investment (FII) activities and Circular 25/2025/TT-NHNN regulating the opening and use of payment accounts at payment service providers.

According to the document, implementing the Government's direction on tasks to get the stock market status upgraded, the SBV requires commercial banks and foreign bank branches (including custodian banks) to update new regulations in Circular No. 03 and Circular No. 25.

Article 6 of Circular 25 added a provision allowing foreign investors conducting FII activities in Vietnam to authorize financial institutions to open, close and use payment accounts.

Another important point is that Article 6 removed the regulation requiring consular legalization in the application for opening a payment account of a foreign investor.

The types of documents that foreign investors can use for identification are expanded. Instead of a passport, foreign investors can use other documents proving their identity issued by a competent foreign authority (Clause 2, Article 3).

Another major change is that banks and foreign bank branches do not have to monitor the validity period of the identity documents of account holders and related persons during the use of payment accounts.

At the same time, banks and foreign bank branches do not have to keep and update all signature samples and seal samples (if any) of registered customers for checking and comparison during the use of payment accounts (Point c, Clause 2, Article 6, Circular 25).

Circular 25 also allows banks and foreign bank branches to use the SWIFT system to open and use payment accounts for foreign investors to carry out FII activities in Vietnam.

Clause 2, Article 7 of this circular allows opening foreign currency payment accounts by electronic means.

Meanwhile, Clause 2, Article 8 does not require biometric information to be verified when withdrawing money or making payment transactions by electronic means on payment accounts.

FTSE Russell will consider upgrading Vietnam's stock market status from "frontier" to "secondary emerging" in its review on October 7.

The country has made notable progress in meeting the requirements of FTSE to have its market status upgraded, said HSBC analysts in a report released in early September.

At a meeting with representatives of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in London on September 15, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang stated that Vietnam has fulfilled the criteria for a status upgrade through reforms aimed at facilitating foreign investment inflows into its market.