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HCMC stock exchange set to ring in the changes
Stock market regulations may be eased this year to attract investors, including an extension in trading beyond the current two hours each weekday morning on the nation’s biggest exchange, a bourse official said.
“I believe trading will be allowed in the afternoon this year as the State Securities Commission’s proposal is merely pending approval from the Ministry of Finance,” Phan Thi Tuong Tam, senior deputy chief executive officer of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, told fund managers at an investment conference in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday.
Vietnam needs to ease regulations to attract investors to reverse the declining inflow of capital into the market, Tam said. The market value of the benchmark VN Index plunged to $9.5 billion on Tuesday from a record $26.2 billion on November 11, 2007, according to Bloomberg data.
Investors may in a “short time” also be allowed to buy and sell a stock on the same day, instead of being forced to wait three days before selling, Tam said.
To increase stock trading activity, listed banks should be allowed to sell stakes that are less than 5 percent of their outstanding stock to foreign banks without having to seek prior permission from the central bank, Tam said, citing a proposal by the exchange to the State Securities Commission. Foreign ownership of local banks should be raised to more than the current 30 percent limit, she said.
thanhnien, Bloomberg
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