Foreign investors will be allowed to contribute capital to establish commodity exchange in Viet Nam as per Decree No. 51/2018/ND-CP, which will be effective from June 1, 2018.

However, their ownership in the exchange should not exceed 49 per cent of its charter capital. Foreign investors are also permitted to trade goods on the commodity exchange as clients and can become members of the exchange (brokers or traders) without ownership restraint.

A brokerage member must have a charter capital of VND5 billion (US$220,000) or more while a trading member must have at least VND75 billion.

The decree stipulates that the commodity exchange must have a charter capital of at least VND150 billion ($6.6 million) and an IT system that meets technical requirements in processing purchase and selling orders as well as a software solution with a capacity of tracing transactions, payment and delivery for at least five years.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will be responsible for verifying and granting the establishment licence.

The decree, which was issued on April 9, amends and supplements a number of articles of the government’s Decree No. 158/2006/ND-CP, dated December 28, 2006, on the conditions for the establishment of commodity exchange. — VNS