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Securities watchdog allows brokerages to resume margin trading
The State Securities Commission (SSC), the stock market regulator, has relaxed a ban on margin trading and lending against shares.
Brokers and banks would initially be allowed to provide the services against bonds before expanding it to some stocks, the SSC said, but did not disclose when the relaxation will take effect.
Resuming the services would boost the market liquidity and improve brokerages’ income, which has been hit hard by the market’s nosedive, Phan Quoc Hung, director of Vietinbank Securities Co., said.
Stocks have fallen to very low levels, but investors do not have money to buy, he said.
Though the regulator imposed the ban last October to ease the volatility that was rocking the market, many brokerages backed by banks continued to lend against shares.
SeaBank Securities Co. still allows clients to pledge their shares to borrow, Vice Chairwoman Le Thi Mai Linh said.
Sacombank Securities Co. lends against 15 large caps on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and some unlisted stocks, including Eximbank, Military Bank, Habubank and construction firm Vinaconex.
The SSC, however, did not crack down on the offenders.
Dau Tu Chung Khoan
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