The Ministry of Finance on March 18 enacted Circular No.144 making six securities services free of charge and lowering the fees for nine others in a move to help stock investors overcome impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The to-be-free services include registration for listing; securities registration; securities borrowing and lending via the Vietnam Securities Depository (VDS); membership registration for derivatives transaction; registration for clearing participant; and first time online connection.

Meanwhile, nine other securities services would be subject to a reduction from 10 – 50% of the current fees, including a 10% reduction for transaction fees on the stock and derivatives market, securities depository; 15 – 20% reduction for position management fee, management of margin assets on derivatives market; 30 – 50% reduction for management of covered warrants after listing, information registration, stock transfer, auction and competitive offering.

Circular No.14 will be effective in five months from March 19, 2020 to August 31, 2020. Depending on the actual situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Minister of Finance could extend the validity period of the circular.

Based on the MoF’s decision, brokerage firms are requested to reduce their services fees to support organizations and individuals affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ministry said the circular is aimed at realizing Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s directive No.11 dated March 4 providing urgent measures and solutions to support businesses to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chairman of the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) Nguyen Van Dung urged enterprises, intermediary financial institutions and investors to trust the internal strengths of the economy and the resilience of Vietnam’s stock market when the global economy is facing strong headwinds.

Such confidence would help the market rebound sooner and avoid unnecessary sell-offs, Dung stated.

In the coming time, the SSC would continue to closely monitor the market and only intervene out of necessity, Dung added, stating the authority would strictly punish cases of market manipulation or providing false information for unfair gains