New regulations issued on securities margin trading

Margin trading allows investors to buy more stock than they would be able to normally.

Under the new rules, shares on the UPCoM (under the UPCoM Premium list) will be eligible for margin trading purchases. The old regulations defined securities on the UPCoM as unapproved for margin trading.

It means about 80 shares registered for trading under the UPCoM Premium list which meet the conditions for margin trading will be eligible for margin purchases. However, this regulation needs approval from the Hanoi Stock Exchange which operates and manages the UPCoM.

The new decision defines securities eligible for margin trading as those which comprise shares and investment fund certificates listed for trading for at least six months up to the time of announcement of the list of approved securities.

According to the draft decision in September last year, securities with total listing time of three months are qualified for margin trading transactions. This period was said to be suitable as the number of new listings on the two exchanges is rising rapidly.

Under the new rules, shares of companies which violate information disclosure and tax regulations and have financial reports not fully accepted by auditors are not eligible for margin trading. The SSC also added time limits for companies to publish their financial statements to be eligible for securities margin trading.

Margin ratio is the ratio of equity over total assets in a margin trading account at market value.

The initial margin ratio - a portion of the purchase price that investors have to deposit - is regulated by securities companies but must be at least 50 percent of the purchase price.

The maintenance margin ration which is the minimum account balance that investors must maintain must be 30 percent at the minimum.

Other regulations on limits on financing margin trading applied for broker companies were kept unchanged.

The new decision will take effect on April 1, 2017.