Speaking to the press on October 28, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said: The Securities Law was promulgated by the National Assembly and took effect from 2019. In recent times, in the process of market development, a number of issues have arisen, especially related to the corporate bond market (TPDN) and individual TPDN.

For individual investors, the Draft Law amending and supplementing the Securities Law currently stipulates in a way that respects the investment rights of individual investors in the market. Therefore, according to Deputy Minister Nguyen Duc Chi, the Ministry of Finance does not propose to amend the contents related to the investment rights of individual investors in the market. Individual investors are entitled to invest in all types of individual corporate bonds.

This is a new point of this draft, because previously, the Ministry of Finance had planned to limit the number of individual investors participating in this market. Accordingly, Article 1.2 of the Draft (supplementing Article 11.1a of the Securities Law) does not allow individual investors to invest in privately issued bonds of enterprises other than credit institutions.

Opposing this content, the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry said: Adjustments like the Draft will have a huge impact on the capital market.

Specifically, it can cause congestion and disruption in the corporate bond market. Because currently, corporate bond investment organizations (such as commercial banks, securities companies, insurance companies, investment funds) are facing many restrictions on bond investment regulations. Therefore, individual investors are still one of the major investors that can absorb corporate bonds. If these investors are limited, businesses will find it difficult to issue more because there are not enough investors in the market to absorb the amount of bonds issued.

The Ministry of Finance's change in the latest draft submitted to the National Assembly has helped businesses issue bonds "breathe easier".

vietcombank 2024.jpg
The proposal of the Ministry of Finance aims to limit risks and ensure the rights of individual investors in the private corporate bond market. Photo: Nam Khanh

Along with that, to improve the quality of goods on the market, limit risks and ensure the rights in investment activities of individual investors in the individual corporate bond market, the Ministry of Finance proposes to supplement regulations in the direction of improving the quality of bonds.

“Regarding the quality of privately issued bonds, in order for professional investors, regardless of whether they are individuals or organizations, to participate, we propose that the enterprise issuing the privately issued corporate bond must have a credit rating, have collateral or have a payment guarantee from a credit institution,” the Deputy Minister of Finance emphasized.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance proposed to amend the decision process for issuing corporate bonds to the public to create more favorable conditions for qualified enterprises to be quickly reviewed and granted certificates for issuing bonds to the public to mobilize capital. For bonds issued to the public, all individual and institutional investors, regardless of whether they are professional or non-professional, can participate.

"We also take into account that new policies need time for the market to adapt. Therefore, we plan to submit these regulations to the National Assembly for approval from January 1, 2026," Mr. Chi informed and expressed that, with these proposals, if approved, the stock market, capital market, especially the corporate bond market will develop sustainably, transparently, improve the quality of privately issued corporate bonds, promote businesses to publicize and transparently disclose information, contribute to improving investor confidence, thereby attracting investment capital for businesses.

According to the program of the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, the National Assembly is expected to give opinions on the Draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 7 Laws including: Securities Law, Accounting Law, Independent Audit Law, State Budget Law, Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, Tax Management Law and National Reserve Law.