The draft amended Law on Securities: The duties and authority of the SSC should be adequately defined

The draft amended Law on Securities: The duties and authority of the SSC should be adequately defined

On July 25, 2019, the Economic Committee of the National Assembly in collaboration with Aus4Reform (the Australian program to support Vietnam's economic reform) organized a workshop to consult and complete the draft Law on Securities with the attendees of delegates including National Assembly deputies, experts and securities companies.

Participants really appreciated the necessity of the Securities Law project (revised). Compared to the current law, the Amendment Law project partially solved shortcomings and inadequacies in the implementation process the law. However, the drafting agency needs to adjust many terms in order to develop the Securities Law project (amended) in accordance with the development trend of securities and securities market (stock market) as well as the changes of other relevant legal documents, create a strict legal framework.

Overview of the workshop

Reviewing the position and competent authority of the SSC is an urgent issueNational Assembly (NA) deputies discuss on some main contents as follows: the position, duties and powers of State Security Commission of Vietnam (SSC); organizational structure of the Stock Exchange, creative start-up enterprises sell securities separately, etc.

Regarding the position, duties and powers of the SSC, the majority of the participants agreed with keeping the operational model of the State Securities Commission (SSC) under the Ministry of Finance as stipulated in Article 9 of the Securities Law project .However, it is necessary to consider many issues for the State Securities Commission to promote its effectiveness in managing and operating the stock market.

Mr.Phan Thai Binh (The representative of Quang Nam province) said that the SSC should strengthen its authority. Because the SSC wants to issue legal documents, the committee must go through the Ministry of Finance. At the same time, the SSC's most important authority is to deal with violations, but the Commission is not competent enough to be able to solve. "The model of organizational inconsistent with authority, as a consequence, SSC should be directly under the Government, not the Ministry", Mr. Binh said.

Apart from the opinions of the majority of delegates, Representative of Yuanta Securities, Mr. Le Minh Tam also suggested that the SSC's duties should be clearly defined. At the same time, the law needs to be revised appropriately for the SSC to have the right to make decisions on how to get documents and products quickly to meet market demands.

Does the Stock Exchange's organizational model need to change?

The majority of National Assembly deputies agreed that the Stock Exchange (SE) is a focal point which is located at the financial center (Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City). If a Vietnamese stock exchange is organized, the parent company of two securities exchanges in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will add an intermediary level. It is suggested that for operating on stock exchanges, there may be an office or a branch in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or other big cities to facilitate investors as well as capital mobilization.

Contributing to the discussion, delegates of Dong Thap province said that branches of the Exchange should be present in some localities, such as Da Nang, Quang Ninh ...the localities with big listed businesses will be more suitable.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dang Tien Quyet - Director of the Department of Corporate Finance of the Ministry of Finance evaluated the merger of Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh stock exchanges to solve social costs and unify the criteria between the two bourses. If two bourses maintain with two different listing criteria, it is not possible.

Speaking at the conclusion of the workshop, Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh highly appreciated the opinions and recommendations of delegates at the workshop. These are very necessary information, which is the basis for the unit to draft, collect, adjust and complete the Securities Law project (amended), and submit it to the National Assembly as soon as possible.