The State Securities Commission (SSC)
has released a document, asking securities companies to report on the
operation of gold trading floors they opened before and not to open any
more floors at this moment. However, companies still keep opening more
trading floors, ignoring the order.


SSC
has asked securities companies to not open anymore gold trading floors
until there are legal documents, guiding the opening and operation of
the floors. Meanwhile, securities companies still continue opening more
trading floors, and they have every reason to do that.


It remains unclear whether SSC
will punish the securities companies that still open more trading
floors after their order, but experts said that the story is worth more
thought.


First, Dispatch No. 405, which asks securities
companies to not open more trading floors, does not clearly stipulate
from what time trading floors cannot be opened. Moreover, the document
does not say exactly whether securities companies can open floors if
they signed contracts with gold companies before the SSC’s document was promulgated.


As a result, securities companies try to dodge the
laws by dating back the day of signing contracts with gold trading
firms, even though they have just signed the contracts.


Second, the fact that attempts by securities companies
to open gold trading floors shows that there is actual demand for gold
transactions from investors.


The document by SSC
stipulates that securities companies are now allowed to open gold
trading floors until there are concrete regulations. However, it is
unclear which agencies will promulgate the concrete regulations and
when the concrete regulations will be promulgated.


In Decision No. 27, the Ministry of Finance allows
securities companies, besides the main business, to provide other
financial services, while gold trading is also a financial service. To
date, there have not been any transaction regulations for gold trading
floors, and therefore, there has not been any foundation to ask
securities companies to not provide that kind of service.


An official from SSC
admitted that it is unclear which state management agency will
undertake the management over gold trading floors. Some say the
management must belong to the State Bank of Vietnam, while others say
to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.


There has not been any final conclusion about the
operation of gold trading floors opened by securities companies.
However, most securities companies are acting on the order receiving
agents for gold trading firms. This means that securities companies
just work for gold trading firms, who stay between the gold trading
firms and investors, bringing investors’ orders to trading firms to get
fees.