The Upcom Premium set will include the stocks of firms with good financial health and transparency . — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) will divide stocks on the official unlisted market (Upcom) into two sets from June 24.

The bourse officially issued two sets of classification principles on May 9.

The Upcom Premium set will include the stocks of firms with good financial health and transparency, while the Upcom Warning set will hold the remaining stocks.

The northern bourse regulated that firms with stocks listed in the Upcom Premium set must have charter capital of at least VND120 billion (US$5.3 million), be profitable in 2015 and have no accumulated losses, or they must have the minimum chartered capital of VND30 billion, with a return after tax on equity of at least 5 per cent in 2015 and no accumulated losses. All these details must be mentioned in the firms' audited financial statements. Firms listing on Upcom Premium must also have their financial reports sent to the HXN on time.

In particular, the HNX said, stocks on Premium Upcom will be allowed to indulge in margin trading if they meet the conditions for such trading, set by the State Securities Commission.

On the other hand, the Warning set will group all restricted stocks with suspended trading due to the firms' accumulated losses or failure to report their financial statements and other problems.

According to the HNX, the separation of stocks based on the firms' health will contribute to promoting market transparency and will better protect the legitimate interests of investors.

Last year, there were 265 firms listed on Upcom, showing growth 1.6 times higher than the previous two years combined. In 2015, the registration capital held in Upcom was VND50.4 trillion, and market capitalisation reached VND61 trillion.

Most of the securities experts forecast better growth for the market this year both in terms of size and quality. Together with policies on equitisation and IPOs on Upcom, the classification will provide a boost to attract more investors to the unlisted market. — VNS