Removing obstacles, paving the way for FDI enterprises to go public

On December 9, the State Securities Commission held a conference to disseminate regulations on listing and registration of transactions for economic organizations with foreign investment capital (FDI), aiming to remove obstacles and receive opinions from businesses, thereby perfecting the legal framework, creating conditions for the FDI sector to participate more deeply in the Vietnamese stock market, contributing to improving the quality of goods and the attractiveness of the market.

Báo Tin Tức•09/12/2025

Photo caption — Customers transact at Bao Viet Securities Company's headquarters in Hanoi . Photo: Tran Viet/VNA

At the conference, Ms. Vu Thi Chan Phuong, Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission, said that 2025 marks many important milestones of the Vietnamese stock market. Although the development time is still short compared to other markets in the world , 25 years of formation and development have recorded great efforts and determination of the Party, State, Government, market members and listed enterprises in building a developed market like today.

Over those 25 years, Vietnam has made many historical marks. In addition to putting the KRX trading system into operation - an important step forward in trading infrastructure and market infrastructure, on October 8, 2025, the FTSE rating organization announced the upgrading of the Vietnamese stock market from a frontier market to a secondary emerging market. This achievement reflects the great efforts of the management agency in perfecting mechanisms and policies to meet the increasing demands of domestic and foreign investors.

From investing in trading infrastructure, payment and clearing, to improving the service quality of securities companies, custodian banks and especially the information transparency of listed companies, all contribute to raising market standards.

“Recently, we held two conferences in Ho Chi Minh City to honor businesses with transparent corporate governance reports and information disclosure. The corporate governance conference alone recognized 20 listed companies that committed to improving governance quality and participating in corporate governance competitions in the ASEAN region – an important step towards raising the governance standards of listed companies,” Ms. Vu Thi Chan Phuong shared.

According to the Chairman of the State Securities Commission, FTSE has announced a market upgrade, but more importantly, it must maintain and consolidate this ranking. That requires the quality of goods on the market to be diversified, and the governance standards and information transparency of listed companies to be improved. Only when stocks are of quality will domestic and foreign investors be bold enough to participate.

In the context of the market entering a new stage of development, upgrading is just the beginning. The market needs to continue to develop in depth, diversify listed goods and improve compliance levels. In particular, the participation of quality FDI enterprises plays a very important role, said the Chairman of the State Securities Commission.

Regarding the listing of FDI enterprises, from 2023 to now, a number of FDI enterprises have been listed on the stock exchange. Currently, there are only 10 enterprises remaining on the two exchanges; of which, 6 enterprises are on HOSE, 1 on HNX and 3 registered to trade on the UPCOM market.

According to the Chairman of the State Securities Commission, out of a total of 1,600 enterprises registered for trading and listing, the number of 10 FDI enterprises is too small, not reflecting the true potential of the FDI sector in Vietnam. Meanwhile, many FDI enterprises operating for a long time, with good revenue and profit, are eager to list on the Vietnamese stock market.

The State Securities Commission has also consulted with ministries, branches and reported to the Government and the Ministry of Finance . Currently, with the initiative of the Commission and the approval of the Government and the Ministry of Finance, we have removed many obstacles and continue to consider allowing FDI enterprises to register for transactions, the Chairman of the State Securities Commission informed.

“In my opinion, the story of a listed enterprise must be based on the benefits it brings and its contribution to society and the market. We can cross-list like VinFast listed on Nasdaq (USA); so why haven’t FDI enterprises that have been operating in Vietnam for a long time listed domestically? The important thing is the management and supervision mechanism and the level of compliance of these enterprises with the Vietnamese market,” said Ms. Vu Thi Chan Phuong.

Mr. Tran Tien Dung, Head of the Public Company Supervision Board (State Securities Commission), said that currently there are only 10 FDI enterprises registered for trading and listing, with a total volume of about 1.2 billion shares, equivalent to 0.17% of the entire market - a very modest number. However, with the goal of diversifying and improving the quality of goods, increasing attractiveness to investors and demonstrating Vietnam's determination to integrate, the State Securities Commission hopes to soon attract more large, effectively operating FDI enterprises to participate in the stock market in the near future.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hoang Van Thu, Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission, emphasized that the consistent viewpoint from Resolution No. 50-NQ/TW dated August 20, 2019 of the Politburo on the orientation of perfecting institutions and policies, improving the quality and efficiency of foreign investment cooperation by 2030 has determined that FDI enterprises are a component part of the business sector and the economy.

In the spirit of creating favorable conditions for FDI enterprises to operate long-term in Vietnam, the current system of policies and legal regulations does not distinguish between domestic enterprises and FDI enterprises.

Mr. Thu said that the State Securities Commission aims to promote the participation of FDI enterprises in the Vietnamese stock market, while supporting domestic enterprises to access the market more effectively.

Mr. Thu affirmed that FDI enterprises, after removing commitments or binding regulations in their investment certificates, can completely participate in the stock market if they meet the conditions under the Securities Law, similar to Vietnamese enterprises.

Regarding the IPO policy associated with listing under Decree No. 245/2025/ND-CP of the Government : Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 155/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Securities Law, Mr. Thu said that this is an important reform step, contributing to shortening administrative procedures and creating more favorable conditions for businesses to access capital mobilization channels on the stock market. The new mechanism is expected to create fundamental changes in the process of businesses preparing to go public.

At the discussion session, representatives of FDI enterprises raised questions on many issues such as: is it mandatory to convert to a joint stock company model before submitting IPO documents; is it necessary to reduce the foreign ownership ratio to below 100%; are FDI enterprises allowed to issue other types of securities such as bonds to the public; requirements for audit reports on contributed charter capital; or are IPO and listing documents required to include a valuation report from a licensed appraisal unit...

Leaders of the State Securities Commission specifically answered each issue, clarified the provisions of the law and guiding documents, contributing to removing obstacles and increasing transparency for FDI enterprises when participating in the stock market.