Foreign capital will soon return to the stock market.

The solid factors attracting foreign capital flows.

In the first trading sessions of September, the stock market continued to record net outflows from foreign investors.

Previously, in August, foreign investors also sold heavily with a net selling value of -42.7 trillion VND, in contrast to the net buying of +8.5 trillion VND in June, bringing the total net selling from the beginning of the year to 77.7 trillion VND.

Selling pressure in August was concentrated in the following sectors: Real Estate (-16.2 trillion VND), Banking (-7.4 trillion VND), Basic Resources (-5 trillion VND), Information Technology (-4.8 trillion VND), and Financial Services (-3.1 trillion VND).

Regarding specific stocks, foreign investors mainly sold net shares in VIC (-13 trillion VND, mostly through agreements),FPT (-5 trillion VND), HPG (-4.8 trillion VND), VPB (-2.5 trillion VND), SSI (-2.1 trillion VND), VHM (-1.7 trillion VND), CTG (-1.5 trillion VND), MBB (-1.2 trillion VND), and VCB (-1 trillion VND).

Commenting on this capital flow movement, SSI Securities stated that, in the context of global capital flows rotating towards the US and Chinese markets, along with the VN-Index having surged by +32.7% in the first eight months of the year, profit-taking by foreign investors is understandable.

However, SSI affirms that the medium- and long-term outlook remains positive. Strong supporting factors stem from the market upgrade narrative (FTSE and, in the longer term, MSCI) and the target of double-digit GDP growth over the next five years, coupled with a comprehensive institutional reform program focused on private sector development.

Given these factors, SSI expects the Vietnamese market to soon welcome the return of foreign capital in the coming period.

According to the announced schedule, FTSE Russell will release its September 2025 Annual FTSE Country Classification Report after the US market closes on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 (equivalent to October 8, 2025 in Vietnam time).

Vietnam is currently on FTSE's watchlist and is assessed by FTSE as potentially being reclassified from a Frontier Market to a Secondary Emerging Market. An upgrade would be accompanied by a positive inflow of foreign capital into Vietnamese securities. According to the most optimistic scenario presented by HSBC, the FTSE upgrade could attract up to US$10.4 billion in foreign capital into the Vietnamese stock market.

New regulations attract foreign investment.

The market will also receive a significant boost from policy. Recently, on September 11, 2025, the Government issued Decree 245/2025/ND-CP amending 89 articles and repealing related content in several clauses and points in 22 articles of Decree 155/2020/ND-CP.

This is considered an important step to attract foreign investment, protect investors, enhance transparency and efficiency in management, and especially to attract foreign capital to the stock market.

Decree 245/2025/ND-CP focuses on removing barriers for foreign investors, with procedures for recognizing professional securities investor status adjusted to conform to foreign legal documents, facilitating participation in private placements.

The rights of foreign investors are also more clearly protected when buying and selling shares on the stock market.

With the aim of opening up market access to foreign investors, the Decree amends and repeals point e, clause 1, Article 139 of Decree No. 155/2020/ND-CP, thereby no longer stipulating that the General Meeting of Shareholders or the Charter of a public company can decide on a maximum foreign ownership ratio lower than the level prescribed by law and international commitments.

For publicly listed companies that have announced the maximum foreign ownership ratio according to point e, clause 1, Article 139 of Decree No. 155/2020/ND-CP, they may continue to maintain this ratio or change it upwards to gradually approach the level prescribed by law.

At the same time, the Decree also adds a transitional provision stipulating the deadline for public companies to complete the procedure of notifying the maximum foreign ownership ratio (within 12 months from the effective date of Decree No. 245/2025/ND-CP), because currently many public companies have not completed this procedure, so the market does not accurately reflect the maximum foreign ownership ratio in public companies.

In fact, the maximum foreign ownership ratio of public companies has been publicly disclosed and transparently published on the company's website and the stock exchange; in particular, the Vietnam Securities Depository Corporation (VSDC) has updated and published daily on its website the maximum foreign ownership ratio and the existing ratio of foreign investors in each public company so that investors can be aware and trade.

The procedure for issuing transaction codes to foreign investors has also been simplified. Decree No. 245/2025/ND-CP has shortened the procedure for VSDC to send online transaction code confirmations (ESTC) to custodian members, allowing custodian members to notify foreign investors within one working day of receiving the declaration information from the custodian member, without the need to submit paper documents as before. Thus, according to the new regulations, foreign investors can trade immediately after receiving the ESTC, in line with international practice.

In addition, the State Bank of Vietnam has also issued Circular No. 03/2025/TT-NHNN dated April 29, 2025, and Circular No. 25/2025/TT-NHNN dated August 31, 2025, which amend and supplement many regulations to simplify procedures for opening indirect investment capital accounts and payment accounts for foreign investors, reduce time and costs of accessing the market, contribute to improving access to and circulation of capital, and aim to upgrade the Vietnamese stock market to a new market.

Furthermore, the Decree also adds a provision allowing foreign securities investment fund management companies investing in the Vietnamese securities market to be granted two securities trading codes to optimize the internal management and monitoring process, separating activities according to type (proprietary trading, client transaction management) of the foreign fund management company. This serves as a basis for implementing the Ominibus Trading Account (OTA) model in accordance with international practices.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/von-ngoai-se-som-quay-lai-voi-thi-truong-chung-khoan-d383920.html