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July 2, 2025

Vietnam’s Resolution on International Financial Centers Brings New Opportunities

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On June 27, 2025, Vietnam’s National Assembly adopted a Resolution on International Financial Centers in Vietnam (“IFC Resolution”), which is set to take effect September 1, 2025, putting forward major policy breakthroughs on multiple fronts. The IFC Resolution has the goal of turning Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang into leading international financial centers with autonomy and tools to compete, thereby raising Vietnam’s position in the global financial network, in association with economic growth drivers.

Below are some of the key points of the IFC Resolution, which has notable changes from previous drafts (see our articles on Vietnam’s Draft Resolution on Financial Centers: Implications for Fintech and Banking and Vietnam’s Emerging Regulatory Landscape for Blockchain and Cryptocurrency), including:

  • The removal of the Central Supervisory Agency.
  • The addition of a definition of international financial centers, which are specific geographic areas in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang with members entitled to special policies.
  • The addition of a list of entities eligible for membership, and entitlement to the special policies.

Major Policy Breakthroughs

The IFC Resolution introduces specific policies in the following areas:

  • Liberalization of foreign exchange control for members, including policies such as open foreign exchange use between members and exemption from foreign exchange control procedures for 100% foreign-owned members.
  • Specialized licensing for members to establish and operate single-member limited liability banks and foreign bank branches with the ability to apply accounting standards, debt classification, risk provisions, and prudential ratios according to the owner’s policies.
  • Creation of a capital market for innovative startups, including a crowdfunding mechanism or private placement mechanism through a licensed platform, and development of a green finance market with green certification.
  • Creation of a regulatory sandbox for fintech technologies, products, services, and business models not yet prescribed by law, offering exemption from compliance with standards and technical regulations as well as exemption from liability for damage to the state during experimentation.
  • Tax incentives such as 10% corporate income tax for 30 years for projects in prioritized sectors or 15% for 15 years for projects in other sectors, and exemption from personal income tax until 2030 for the earned income of highly qualified personnel.
  • Immigration policies to attract and keep foreign talent, such as granting visas, temporary resident cards valid for up to 10 years, and permanent resident cards to certain groups (e.g., important investors, experts, managers, and other talents) as well as work permit exemption.
  • Changes to employment, including exemption from requirements for foreign labor demand reporting, market-rate salaries for public servants in the executive agencies and supervisory agencies, and allowing foreign workers to opt into Vietnam’s social insurance and unemployment programs.
  • Priority in allocation and lease of clean land funds and land tenure of up to 70 years for prioritized sectors.
  • Streamlining of administrative procedures for construction and environmental compliance.
  • Supplementing the budgets of Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang from the central budget for 10 years, allowing up to 70% state investment in certain projects, and bypassing bidding procedures for certain infrastructure projects.
  • Allowing members to choose to resolve disputes in various venues, including foreign arbitration, international arbitration, the international arbitration center of the international financial center, arbitration in Vietnam, foreign courts, and Vietnamese courts.
  • Making English or English with Vietnamese translation the official language for transactions and operations.
  • Establishing new trading floors and trading platforms for commodity trading and commodity derivatives, trading of carbon credits, trading in cultural and artistic products, trading in rare metals, trading of green financial products, and transactions and other new types of trading platforms according to development needs.

Products and Services

The products and services to be provided in the international financial centers include stocks, bonds, fund certificates, financial derivatives, fund management, insurance, reinsurance, banking and foreign exchange, green finance, carbon credits, fintech, digital assets, and other products and services prescribed by the government.

Membership

Membership can be obtained through registration or recognition. Members will be granted a separate identification number and will be recorded in the register of members of the international financial centers.

The following entities can apply for registration to be members of the international financial centers:

  • Commercial banks, foreign bank branches, securities companies, and insurance and reinsurance enterprises.
  • Investment and asset management funds.
  • Entities organizing market infrastructure.
  • Fintech and digital asset organizations (this is one of the prioritized sectors under the IFC Resolution).
  • Entities providing consultancy and support services.
  • Non-financial organizations.
  • Other entities as prescribed by the government.

The following qualifying entities can apply to be recognized as members:

  • Financial institutions, investment funds, or enterprises on the Fortune Global 500 list published by Fortune magazine at the time of application, or their direct parent companies, except for organizations operating in the fields of banking, securities, and insurance.
  • Financial institutions belonging to the group of top 10 domestic (Vietnamese) enterprises in terms of charter capital in each respective field, except for banking, securities, and insurance.

Next Steps

The government will promulgate a decree(s) on establishment of the international financial centers, including establishment of their executive agencies, supervisory agencies, and dispute resolution agencies as well as handling of issues that differ from prevailing laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, ordinances and resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee. The decree(s) will coexist with innovative regulations that apply nationally, like the Fintech Sandbox Decree (Vietnam Issues Fintech Sandbox Decree) and upcoming crypto regulations (Vietnam’s Emerging Regulatory Landscape for Blockchain and Cryptocurrency).

Interested investors should stay updated on how to apply for membership in international financial centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, particularly those with a focus on products and services which are currently unregulated or subject to stringent regulations preventing foreign investment.

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