Online gold, money trades cited as illegal (10-05-2008) HCM CITY — The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) on Wednesday issued an instruction warning investors that online gold and dollar trading was illegal under current law. SBV said that online trading was risky and that it had caused losses to many investors. Online trading offers high interest rates, from 5 per cent to 20 per cent of the volume of money or gold traded per month. To begin online trading, investors typically must open an account of at least US$5,000 each. Under current regulations on foreign exchange management, only commercial banks authorised by SBV are allowed to trade in foreign currencies. All online gold and foreign currency trading activities are illegal. Ho Huu Hanh, deputy director of SBV in HCM City, said: "Only organisations licensed by the State Bank of Viet Nam in this field can provide this service." — VNS … [Read more...]
Index up, as foreign investor sales slow down
Index up, as foreign investor sales slow down (10-03-2009) Investors watch online trading boards at VNDirect Securities in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Viet Thanh HA NOI — The VN-Index yesterday increased 2.15 points to close at 247.85, a rise of 0.88 per cent, as a couple of reports noted an easing in the pace at which foreign investors have been unloading Vietnamese shares since late last year. Volume in yesterday’s session on the HCM City Stock Exchange rose 43 per cent over the previous session to 10.4 million shares, for a combined value of VND197.2 billion (US$11.6 million). Buying volume has outnumbered selling volume for six consecutive days, according to VNDirect Securities. PetroVietnam Transportation Co (PVT) claimed the spot as the most-active share, with 958,000 units traded, followed by perennial favourite Sacombank (STB), with 737,000 shares. "There’s little chance that the VN-Index will fall further," Ha Noi Securities Co opined in a … [Read more...]
Investors not online with the e-commerce push
VietNamNet Bridge - E-commerce is said to be the promised land, but it has yet to receive much interest from local investment funds. “Vietnam has a very good foundation that is ready for further growth, with strong demand, an educated workforce and growing tech sophistication,” said DFJ VinaCapital director Hoang Duc Trung. Trung said consumption potential was promising, around 70 per cent of Vietnamese people’s income, which was $1,200 per capita per annum and was expected to double in the next seven to 10 years. Vietnam is the 17th most active country in terms of internet usage in the world, with around 29 per cent of the Vietnamese population using the internet, according to a recent survey conducted by the World Bank. Some investment funds agreed that now was a good time for e-commerce, an important channel to support retailers and to distribute products to customers and businesses. However, these funds have not found many opportunities to invest despite the huge … [Read more...]
Online Bidding Guarantee Starts from 2016
Online Bidding Guarantee Starts from 2016 This plan will be carried out in two phases, starting from July 13, 2016. The first phase (from 2016 to 2018) will include the following contents: Upgrading, managing and operating existing national procurement network systems in a secure, stable and smooth manner; collecting bidder selection and bidding guarantee fees via banks, online payment gateways and electronic invoices; enabling online bidding guarantee; providing bid information on mobile devices and emails. The second phase (from 2019 to 2025) will comprise of the following contents: Linking the national tender system with other e-government systems; developing bid information provision utilities, participating in bidding, bidder selection supervision and contract implementation via mobile devices; applying online payment between investors and bid winners. The objectives of the second phase are 100 per cent of information about bidder/contractor selection and contract execution is … [Read more...]
Government bonds to be transacted online
The Internet site for online transactions of Government bonds will be put into use soon, marking a big change on the Vietnamese bond market, the Saigon Times Daily has reported. Nguyen Thi Hoang Lan, vice chairperson and deputy CEO of the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), was quoted as saying that the northern bourse will operate the site with many products and information for investors. This online transaction channel is being test-run. More products and new transaction tools on both primary and secondary markets will be developed and offered in the coming time, she said, adding HNX will also launch the Bond Index this month. Together with the yield curve, the bond index is a market indicator assisting investors in calculating bond prices and forecasting investment trends, which is expected to help boost participation of members and investors in Government bond transactions. Derivatives like zero-coupon bond, when-issued, sell/buy repo, borrowing/lending repo and cross-currency repo have … [Read more...]
India rolls out red carpet for Vietnamese investors
Indian investment today in Viet Nam is close to US$1 billion and is all set to grow with the Tata Group investing around $2 billion in Soc Trang Province. — Photo pc2.vn HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Economic ties between Viet Nam and India have yet to match the vast potential and huge aspirations of their leaders, officials on both sides and entrepreneurs agreed at a meeting the Indian consulate held yesterday in HCM City to mark the launch of its "Made in India" campaign. Smita Pant, the Indian consulate general in HCM City, said India encouraged foreign investment in its market of 1.3 billion. Vietnamese investors were also welcomed and the country had rolled out of a red carpet, she said. "The potential is huge and as far as India and Viet Nam trade and investment relations are concerned, the business community is sitting on a gold mine, which needs to be explored." Besides online licensing, the Indian Government has also announced new policies for 24 sectors in which it … [Read more...]
Central bank eyes gold sale to stabilise market
The State Bank of Viet Nam stated that it would pump about 10 tonnes of bullion gold into the market if needed in order to stabilise the market.— VNS File Photo HA NOI (VNS)— The State Bank of Viet Nam stated that it would pump about 10 tonnes of bullion gold into the market if needed in order to stabilise the market. The domestic gold price has fallen for six consecutive days to its lowest level in the past three weeks. Yesterday, the selling price of DOJI Group fell to VND41.68 million per tael while the buying price was VND41.44 million per tael. In HCM City, each tael cost from VND41.42- 41.67 million, about VND4.4 million higher than the world price. A representative from the SJC Company told the Saigon Economic Times that gold purchasing power has been low despite the decreasing prices. He said investors have been hesitant to buy gold, as all banks will soon be forced to stop mobilising or lending gold. The central bank has been selling gold through auctions. … [Read more...]
Banks sell property to recoup debts
Real estate sales by banks in a bid to recover bad debts were flooding property brokerage centres, with prices much lower than general price levels on the market, online newspaper vnexpress.net reported. Tran Trung Dung, director of a property transaction floor in Ha Noi's My Dinh district, told the news website that 65 per cent of apartment blocks and lands registered for trading at his floor were consigned by banks, and the volume of these properties had quadrupled over the level from the same period last year. Dung said most of the owners of these properties were investors who bought the assets last year and now couldn't cover bank loans. The director of a joint stock bank in Ha Noi said the increase in banks moving to sell real estate was normal in recent years as the market was sluggish and banks concentrated on dealing with bad debts. The director of another bank said banks were forced to take action as their debtors did not co-operate with them or they couldn't … [Read more...]
Interest cuts fail to impress investors
Interest on deposits of more than one year is still 8-9 per cent, meaning that with inflation expected to be no more than 6-7 per cent this year, real returns will be in positive territory.—Photo vinacorp by Compiled (Biz Hub) —Following the State Bank of Viet Nam's decision to lower the deposit interest rate cap to 7 per cent in June, banks have cut interest rates accordingly. While many thought this would cause investors to switch to other asset classes like gold, real estate, or securities, this has not happened. Vietnamese have for long had a predilection for gold as an asset, and prices of the metal are now at the lowest levels in two years, meaning it is an attractive investment option as deposit interest rates plummet. But two factors are keeping them away from gold – the extreme volatility in prices in recent weeks and the central bank's measures to tighten management whose outcomes remain untested. Besides, domestic prices remain significantly higher than … [Read more...]
Three small investors to blame for costly stock market rumour
VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Public Securities has found the three individual believed to have started rumour that the chairman of the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) was arrested in February, causing chaos in the stock market. The three suspects are aged between 28-37 years and are currently working in Ha Noi and HCM City. They allegedly spread the rumour through online forums. The ministry's investigation has concluded that the men did not intend to destroy the financial markets, but were targeting individual gain as they were small investors in stocks. However, their crime adversely affected the financial and currency markets. The VN-Index dropped 18 points, or 3.36 per cent, while the HNX-Index lost 3.35 points, or 5.3 per cent, after the rumour spread. A series of shares were sold off and stock market capitalisation evaporated VND29 trillion (US$1.36 billion) in just one trading session. Shortly after the rumour was refuted by BIDV chairman … [Read more...]