Masan calls for IPO reforms to boost Vietnam’s capital market

Nguyen Thieu Nam, vice chairman and deputy CEO of Masan Group, made these recommendations at a government conference on September 21 to discuss measures to support Vietnam's socioeconomic development.

Nam reiterated the goals outlined in the national stock market development strategy through 2030, targeting a market capitalisation of 120 per cent of GDP and a bond market debt level reaching 58 per cent of GDP.

Backing this strategic direction, Nam emphasised that to ensure businesses have access to lower-cost, flexible capital, while safeguarding systemic risk, the solution lies in attracting long-term, low-cost funding from foreign investors and boosting the non-banking capital market.

He also proposed expanding foreign investor access to Vietnam’s capital markets, noting that this could significantly reduce financing costs for companies.

"This would enable businesses to access cheaper and more stable capital sources," Nam said.

"We appreciate the Ministry of Finance’s efforts to upgrade Vietnam from a ‘frontier’ to an ‘emerging’ market. This is critical, as it will unlock investments from global funds restricted to emerging markets," said Nam.

He added that Masan is eager to see new regulations addressing the pre-trade margin requirements, a key step towards achieving emerging market status in 2025.

Additionally, Nam called for easier access to non-bank capital markets, allowing businesses more flexibility in their capital-raising plans.

Nam also urged the government to reassess the stock exchange listing requirements to better accommodate new business models, drawing comparisons to the Nasdaq, where many tech companies are listed. He argued that current IPO procedures are overly lengthy and complicated, falling short of international norms, which has stifled Vietnam's IPO market.

Masan further expressed concerns over two aspects of the latest draft revisions to the Securities Law, which could potentially slow the capital market’s development. The first involves new requirements that corporate bonds offered publicly must be secured by assets or guaranteed by banks.

While this amendment aims to strengthen risk management, Nam argued that it is not well-suited to an economy transitioning from asset-heavy to knowledge-based industries. He called for a more appropriate evaluation framework in this context.

The second issue raised was the proposed extension of the lock-up period for private placements of shares and bonds by public companies, from one year to three years, for professional investors.

The previous regulation restricted share transfers to strategic investors only, but the revision would extend this to professional investors as well, potentially deterring investment and limiting the ability of issuers to raise capital through private placements.

Masan completes $250-million equity raise from Bain Capital Masan Group Corporation (HOSE: MSN) has successfully completed a $250-million equity raise from Bain Capital, a world-leading private investment firm with approximately $180 billion of assets under management.

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