The latest draft of a law that amends seven finance-related laws is more accommodative than the earlier drafts, as it allows professional individual investors to buy, trade, and transfer privately issued corporate bonds in certain cases. However, there remain opposing views on this matter. More concessions for individual investors According to the latest draft, two types of investors are allowed to participate in the purchase, trading, and transfer of corporate bonds that are issued via private placement: professional institutional investors (later referred to as institutional investors) and professional individual investors (later referred to as individual investors). Specifically, individual investors can only buy, trade, and transfer privately issued bonds if the issuing company has either a credit rating and secured assets, or a credit rating and a payment guarantee from a bank. Thus, the latest draft law provides a significant “concession” for individual investors. In the draft law submitted to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in October 2024, the Government proposed allowing only institutional investors to buy, trade, and transfer private corporate bonds, while individual investors would be limited to bonds issued via private placement by credit institutions. The rationale behind this proposal is that corporate bonds sold through […]