Foreigners allowed to own 49 percent of commodity exchange

Foreign investors will be allowed to contribute capital to establish commodity exchange in Vietnam as per Decree No. 51/2018/ND-CP, which will be effective from June 1, 2018.

The meeting on May 9 held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to broadcast Decree No. 51/2018/ND-CP (source: PANO)

However, their ownership in the exchange should not exceed 49 percent of its charter capital. Foreign investors are also permitted to trade goods on the commodity exchange as clients and can become members of the exchange (brokers or traders) without ownership restraint.

A brokerage member must have a charter capital of 5 billion VND (220,000 USD) or more while a trading member must have at least 75 billion VND.

The decree stipulates that the commodity exchange must have a charter capital of at least 150 billion VND (6.6 million USD) and an IT system that meets technical requirements in processing purchase and selling orders as well as a software solution with a capacity of tracing transactions, payment and delivery for at least five years.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will be responsible for verifying and granting the establishment licence.