18/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | MAR 18, 2026

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Vietnam firms vie for crypto licences

owning cryptocurrencies, digital assets are not recognised as money or a legal means of payment in Vietnam. As a result, most Vietnamese traders currently use overseas centralised exchanges such as Binance, OKX and Bybit, market participants say. Phan Duc Trung, chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain and Digital Assets Association, said successful domestic exchanges could help keep transaction fees inside the country and support the development of Vietnam’s digital financial services industry. “This would not only contribute to state budget revenues but also promote the growth of the domestic digital economy,” said Trung, while cautioning that the legal framework remains incomplete, particularly in areas such as supervision, taxation and risk management. – Reuters

Authorities have grown increasingly concerned about the use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins amid a rise in popularity regionally, increasing the risks of uncontrolled capital outflows. The Finance Ministry is drafting new rules that would prohibit Vietnamese nationals from trading on overseas crypto platforms. Vietnam tightly restricts cross-border capital transfers. With a small and underdeveloped corporate bond market and a stock exchange still classified as frontier, many domestic savers channel their money into gold or property instead. Gold prices in Vietnam trade at a premium of about 10% to global benchmarks, while the housing market has been prone to bouts of speculation, highlighting the limited investment options available to households. Although there is no explicit ban on

March 12 and reviewed by Reuters this week. Among them are affiliates of three Vietnamese private banks – Techcombank, VPBank and LPBank – as well as stockbroker VIX Securities and Sun Group, one of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerates, the document showed. Sun Group and VPBank confirmed their licence applications, while the other three firms did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. A spokesperson for the ministry said authorities were working on the matter but would not comment on specific applicants. Vietnam has emerged as one of the world’s most active crypto markets, ranking fourth globally in last year’s Global Crypto Adoption Index compiled by blockchain data firm Chainalysis, which estimated transactions involving Vietnamese traders exceeded US$200 billion in the 12 months to June.

manufacturer VinFast said on Monday its fourth-quarter net loss widened from a year earlier as it increased impairment charges related to its US plant, which it aims to resume construction of this year. VinFast made a net loss of 35.2 trillion dong (RM5.3 billion) in the final quarter of 2025, 46.5% wider than the same period of 2024 and 15% wider than in the previous quarter. Adjustments in the book value of its proposed North Carolina plant accounted for US$235.6 million of the loss. “We are committed to the US market ... and have been working in the background on that “ VinFast chairman Thuy Le said during an investor briefing, adding that the company was targeting a soft launch in 2028. VinFast delayed the plant’s construction in 2024, citing an uncertain EV market. Since then governments worldwide have scaled back policies encouraging EV purchases amid softening demand due to economic pressures. Demand remained strong in Vietnam, however, accounting for almost 80% of the 86,557 EVs VinFast delivered during the fourth quarter. That was an increase of 127% from the third quarter and 63% compared to a year earlier. Two-wheeler deliveries surged over 450% year-on-year to nearly 172,000 units, driven by Hanoi’s ban on petrol-powered motorbikes from the city center starting in the middle of this year. VinFast aims to deliver at least 300,000 EVs globally this year while expanding its two wheeler business to 2.5 times its 2025 volume. Target markets include India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. It also plans to launch range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) in Vietnam in 2027. HANOI: are competing to launch the country’s first licensed cryptocurrency exchanges as the government moves to curb trading on overseas platforms in one of the world’s most active crypto markets. Hanoi plans to roll out a pilot scheme for locally run digital asset exchanges as soon as this month, according to a government resolution issued in last month, as part of a broader effort to tighten oversight of crypto trading and capital flows. Five companies passed an initial qualification round, according to a Finance Ministry document dated o Hanoi to ban citizens from trading on exchanges abroad Vietnamese companies

VinFast posts wider Q4 loss, aims to restart US plant construction HANOI: Vietnamese electric vehicle

A woman rides a bicycle past VinFast electric cars parked on a street in Hanoi. – AFPPIC

Full-year revenue rose 105% to US$3.6 billion. The company, a subsidiary of conglomerate Vingroup, expects to break even by the end of this year. “Despite backing from Vingroup, VinFast’s high cash burn rate raises questions regarding its ability to fund the required capex,“ Ollie Coughlin, an analyst at Third Bridge said in a note. – Reuters

A free-charging programme launched in December 2024 pushed up costs, but helped accelerate sales. “The programme is highly appreciated by customers, even by dealers... it was one of the best ways for them to convince people to adopt EVs,“ Thuy Le told Reuters. “It is expensive, but at the same time it is a good investment.”

Equipped with small petrol engines that recharge batteries, these models are considered a transitional solution in regions with underdeveloped charging infrastructure. “We view range extender technology as a practical interim spec in the transition from internal combustion engines to fully battery-powered vehicles,“ said Anne Pham, VinFast’s senior executive.

China restricts overseas-incorporated firms from Hong Kong IPOs, Bloomberg reports

HK firm: Panama failed to respond to lawsuit HONG KONG: A subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison said Panamanian officials had not responded to its lawsuit opposing the suspension of its Panama Canal operations because they had failed to hire lawyers. “does not disregard consultations and international dispute procedures”. “Panama stated that it was not prepared and was not able to respond on time because it had not hired lawyers, was unfamiliar with the dispute, and needed time to develop a plan, to obtain a partial extension,“ the PPC statement said.

HONG KONG: Beijing is restricting Chinese companies incorporated overseas from seeking initial public offerings in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. Chinese regulators have recently discouraged IPO applications from “red-chip” firms, or entities registered outside China which hold assets and businesses within the country via equity ownership, the report said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has asked some companies to overhaul their structure before proceeding with a Hong Kong listing, according to the report. The regulatory tightening comes as Beijing

seeks to further enhance oversight of offshore share sales by Chinese companies, the sources told Bloomberg, amid a listing boom that made Hong Kong the top global IPO market last year. Chinese companies accounted for 77% of Hong Kong’s total market capitalisation as of end-2025, exchange data shows. The CSRC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Hong Kong stock exchange declined to comment. The report of the tightening comes in contrast with Hong Kong’s latest proposal to lower market value thresholds for companies seeking to use a dual-class share structure, among other new measures to boost its competitiveness. – Reuters

A Panamanian court declared in January that a contract, which had allowed CK Hutchison unit Panama Ports Company (PPC) to manage the Pacific port of Balboa and Cristobal on the Atlantic since 1997, was “unconstitutional”. PPC filed a lawsuit in February under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and said this month that it was seeking at least US$2 billion in damages. However, Panama did not file any responses to the arbitration by the original deadline of March 13 set by the ICC’s Court of Arbitration, PPC said in a statement issued on Monday in Panama. It said a country that respects foreign investors

Panama had also failed to resolve the broader issues involved, it said, which “suggests that Panama may eventually simply invent and announce more unfounded attacks in arbitration”. The Central American country has been caught up in broader tensions between Washington and Beijing, with US President Donald Trump last year claiming, without evidence, that China effectively runs the canal. China had threatened Panama with payback after the court’s decision in January. – AFP