Another big step forward, very important for the upgrading process

In particular, some of the rules relating to the upgrade will come into effect immediately – which is crucial for the upcoming FTSE stock market classification review.

On August 31, 2025, the State Bank issued Circular No. 25/2025/TT-NHNN (Circular 25) amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 17/2024/TT-NHNN (Circular 17) regulating the opening and use of payment accounts at payment service providers.

Many major changes effective immediately

In addition to many new points, Circular 25 has supplemented the contents in Article 6 and some related provisions of Circular 17, aiming to facilitate the opening and use of payment accounts for foreign investors who are non-residents when conducting indirect investment activities in Vietnam. Notably, while many other provisions will take effect from March 1, 2026 or December 1, 2025, the contents in Article 6 and related provisions will take effect immediately upon the signing of the Circular (from August 31, 2025).

This is the result of the Government's strong direction and the great efforts and effective coordination of many agencies, organizations and units, especially between the State Bank and the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission, to create the most optimal conditions for foreign investors, promoting the process of upgrading the Vietnamese stock market from frontier to emerging.

Specifically, in Article 6, Circular 25 has added a provision allowing foreign investors conducting indirect investment activities in Vietnam to authorize financial institutions to open, close and use payment accounts. Banks and foreign bank branches are allowed to identify foreign investors and authorized organizations in accordance with the law on anti-money laundering.

A very important point in the new Circular is that Article 6 has removed the regulation on consular legalization in the payment account opening dossier of foreign investors: “a) The regulation on consular legalization in Point a, Clause 6, Article 12 of this Circular does not apply…”.

Furthermore, the types of documents that foreign investors can use for identification are expanded: Instead of a passport, foreign investors can use other documents proving their identity issued by a competent foreign authority (Clause 2, Article 3).

Not stopping there, another major change is at point c, clause 2, Article 6 of Circular 25 clearly states: "The provisions at point b, clause 1, Article 5; clause 3, Article 19; point b, clause 2, Article 21 of this Circular do not apply".

This means that banks and foreign bank branches do not have to monitor the validity period of the identity documents of account holders and related persons during the use of payment accounts. At the same time, banks and foreign bank branches do not have to keep and update all signature samples and seal samples (if any) of registered customers for checking and comparison during the use of payment accounts.

In addition, Circular 25 also allows banks and foreign bank branches to use the SWIFT system to open and use payment accounts for foreign investors to carry out indirect investment activities in Vietnam. On the other hand, in Clause 2, Article 7, the new Circular also allows opening foreign currency payment accounts by electronic means.

In addition, another new point is that Clause 2, Article 8 of Circular 25 also does not require biometric information verification when withdrawing money or making electronic payment transactions on payment accounts.

Time to open an official indirect investment account is shortened and convenient

Procedure for opening a securities investment account for foreign investors: After opening an electronic securities transaction code (e-STC) at the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC), investors will open (i) a securities transaction account at a securities company and (ii) an indirect investment account at a custodian bank after being granted an electronic securities transaction code.

Accordingly, according to securities law regulations (Decree 155/2020/ND-CP and guiding documents), the time for VSDC to issue e-STC is 1 day and the time to open a trading account at the securities company is also 1 day after receiving e-STC.

Meanwhile, opening an indirect investment capital account at a custodian bank previously had regulations in the laws of credit institutions and guiding documents requiring consular legalization, regulations on having to meet in person when KYC customers, not recognizing the role of global custodian banks and the use of SWIFT messages... so this process took a lot of time.

However, under the strong direction of the Government and the active coordination of the State Bank in upgrading the stock market, the State Bank recently issued Circular 03/2025/TT-NHNN dated April 29, 2025 regulating the opening and use of Vietnamese Dong accounts to carry out foreign indirect investment activities in Vietnam.

Previously, the Ministry of Finance also issued Circular No. 20/2025/TT-BTC amending Circular No. 51/2021/TT-BTC, focusing on adjusting regulations related to the opening and use of indirect investment capital accounts; information disclosure obligations and reporting regimes of foreign investors to improve transparency and efficiency in management.

Circular 03/2025/TT-NHNN combined with Circular 20/2025/TT-BTC has created a series of administrative reforms and experts assess that these changes will contribute to removing barriers and opening the door to attracting foreign capital.

Most recently, Circular No. 25/2025/TT-BTC was issued, continuing to be a major change when the regulations on opening payment accounts at payment service providers were amended and supplemented in accordance with international practices. Therefore, when implementing the opening of indirect investment accounts according to the newly issued guidance documents of the State Bank, the documents and procedures have been simplified and the implementation time has been shortened.

In addition, according to some global custodian banks, to complete the account opening documents, custodian banks usually still need to exchange and guide customers investing in Vietnam for the first time. It is estimated that the time to complete the documents will be about 2 weeks for the exchange and guidance of investors or global custodian banks and will be shorter depending on the coordination and exchange between the bank and the investor.

"With this duration, it has basically met the expectations of foreign investors" - the Ministry of Finance assessed.

Clearer signals for upgrade expectations are near

Previously, Circular 68/2024/TT-BTC was issued and continued to be amended and supplemented in Circular 18/2025/TT-BTC, which brought many advantages to foreign institutional investors when they were allowed to trade without requiring 100% of the money. This is a long step forward, consistent with practical implementation, ensuring reasonableness, and at the same time approaching international practices, serving the goal of upgrading the Vietnamese stock market.

Next, the regulations in Circular 20/2025/TT-BTC, Circular No. 03/2025/TT-NHNN and Circular No. 25/2025/TT-NHNN create conditions for foreign investment funds to open new or expand indirect investment accounts, which means that foreign capital will likely flow into the market more strongly.

Many assessments show that, in addition to many other solutions, amending the legal regulations of Vietnamese State management agencies is very important for the September 2025 FTSE stock market classification assessment period taking place on October 7, 2025.

Many organizations and experts have expressed optimism that the Vietnamese stock market will be upgraded by FTSE in the next classification period.

It is estimated that if upgraded by FTSE Russell, passive index funds will likely pour in about 1 billion USD and active funds investing in emerging markets will immediately allocate 4-6 billion USD into the Vietnamese stock market.

In addition, VinaCapital experts also believe that upgrading the market also has the meaning of increasing the depth of the Vietnamese stock market, contributing to increasing the confidence of domestic investors, promoting transparency, standardizing the market, and thereby creating a more sustainable investment environment.

These factors will attract both domestic and international investors to the stock market in particular and the economy in general in the long term.

LONG AN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/them-mot-buoc-tien-lon-co-y-nghia-rat-quan-trong-cho-tien-trinh-nang-hang-post906603.html