Vietnam central bank to launch three-phase gold exchange pilot

THE HANOI TIMES — The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced that the country’s planned gold exchange will be piloted in three phases, starting with raw gold trading, followed by gold bullion and eventually derivative products.

The information was shared by Dao Xuan Tuan, Director of the SBV’s Foreign Exchange Management Department, during a recent seminar held on October 15. The pilot program will be divided into three stages, with the initial phase focusing solely on physical gold products.

During this first stage, the gold exchange will operate only within the domestic market and will not be connected to international trading systems.

Participants will include licensed trading platform operators, settlement banks responsible for payments, escrow account management and reconciliation, as well as authorized trading members such as banks and enterprises permitted to import gold.

In the second phase, trading will expand to include gold bullion. The final phase will integrate all gold products circulating in the domestic market, such as gold certificates, investment funds and derivative instruments and establish connections with international markets.

SBV’s Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung explained that limiting the first phase to raw gold trading is intended to improve control and transparency over gold imports and production.

Once operations stabilize, the SBV will consider expanding to bullion products produced by licensed entities. At that point, trading volume is expected to rise significantly, laying the groundwork for the introduction of derivative products such as electronic gold and gold certificates, similar to models applied in other countries.

Earlier in May, General Secretary To Lam directed relevant agencies to study the establishment of a national gold exchange or the inclusion of gold as a tradable commodity on Vietnam’s commodity exchanges.

Deputy Governor Dung noted that the SBV plans to submit a draft resolution on piloting the gold exchange in October.

Director Tuan emphasized that the timing is favorable, as the state monopoly on gold bullion production has recently been abolished.

Since October 10, banks and businesses with trading licenses may apply to produce gold bullion, provided they meet capital requirements, at least VND1 trillion (US$39 million) for enterprises and VND50 trillion ($1.95 billion) for banks.

Dung also revealed that the first exchange members will be entities licensed to import and produce gold, including eight major banks: Agribank, BIDV, VietinBank, Vietcombank, MB, Techcombank, ACB and VPBank.

The SBV has not yet decided whether there will be a single or multiple exchanges. Dung said that any organization meeting technical infrastructure, financial capacity, management, and staffing requirements could be licensed to operate a physical gold exchange. “We are not inclined toward a single centralized exchange model but rather controlled competition to ensure efficiency,” he noted.

Drawing from international experience, Dung added that Vietnam may adopt a model where the government provides oversight while private enterprises handle operations. In this setup, the SBV would remain the regulatory and supervisory authority, while private entities with the necessary technical capacity could manage infrastructure and daily operations.

During the pilot phase, the SBV will require 100% margin deposits from buyers to ensure transaction safety and minimize counterparty risk. Customers will only be allowed to trade within the amount they have deposited with a designated settlement bank.

Since infrastructure is not yet ready, the SBV may forgo a centralized depository in the early phase, instead allowing gold to be stored at production companies’ certified vaults. These facilities must meet strict safety and preservation standards and will be under SBV supervision. Once the market expands, centralized depository institutions are expected to emerge to serve the growing trading system.