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Watchdog puts freeze on new brokerages
The State Securities Commission is restricting the establishment of new securities firms this year in the face of the prolonged stock market downturn and the difficulties being faced by existing stock brokerages.
Commission chairman Vu Bang affirmed yesterday that only a few new securities companies would be licensed in the near future, out of around 200 licence applications submitted to the commission during 2007-08.
In 2008, over 100 new securities firms were licensed.
The commission admitted that the business performance of many securities enterprises had been choked off in the context of the global economic and financial crisis. It was important to consolidate and make securities firms healthier, Bang said.
Decision No 126/2008/QD-BTC, issued late last year, also set stricter conditions for setting up a securities firm. Among the new requirements, a new securities enterprise must have two institutional shareholders among its founding shareholders, one of which must be a commercial bank, financial institution or insurance company.
The stake held by these founding shareholders must equal at least 65 per cent of the total charter capital, and the stake of the commercial bank or financial or insurance company shareholder must exceed 30 per cent.
The State Securities Commission would continue to issue specific rules on, and more closely supervise the operations of stock brokerages, with conditions on capital, infrastructure, management, professional qualifications of staff, Bang said.
The commission was also drafting circulars on risk management, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy of securities companies, and audit requirements, he added.
VietNamNet/VNS
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