Post-merger stock exchange headquarters in Hanoi

The current Hanoi Stock Exchange.

The information was released at the 36th session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee being held from August 12 to 16. It also beat previous predictions that the two current bourses will operate independently under the control and ownership of a new state-owned company.

The post-merger stock exchange will be managed by the Ministry of Finance, acting as a focal point for issuing regulations on stock listings and trading, monitoring the stock market, managing risk and directly organising securities transactions.

Vu Hong Thanh, Chairman of the NA's Economic Committee, said this plan ensured uniformity of the market, increasing transparency and greater efficiency in governance and ensuring legal rights of investors.

Poll results revealed that most of the reviewers believe that the initial plan, under which the nation’s two bourses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will be merged into a new holding company model but still continue to operate independently, is improper and goes against the general global trend.

Agreeing with this plan, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said that there should be only one stock exchange.

“The new stock exchange does not have to be located in the capital but it must be located in the place where there is the most vibrant and active market,” Ngan said.

“There will be one main stock exchange and two trading floors, the location of the main exchange is up to the Government,” Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said.

“The Prime Minister will decide the organisation, dissolution and conversion of ownership but we think that the State holding in the combined exchange does not have to be regulated as over 50 per cent but should be dependent on the economic conditions of each period of time. For example in Japan, the state does not hold a controlling stake,” Dung said.

National Assembly Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien said there might be a time when the state might not necessarily hold a controlling stake, but at present in Vietnam, the State still needed to maintain a major holding.

“This should be carefully considered as it could lead to an unstable financial market if the State does not play a leading role in the context that firms’ capitalisation are becoming larger,” Hien said.