The foreign ownership limit (FOL), which sets the maximum percentage of shares held by foreign investors in a public company, has long been a contentious issue. FOL serves as both a protective measure for domestic businesses and a barometer of stock market openness. Since the inception of Vietnam’s stock market, FOL has remained a point of debate. While foreign investors bring capital, they also raise concerns about potential takeovers, particularly in sensitive sectors tied to national security. As a result, while the Government seeks to attract foreign investment, it remains cautious about fully opening the market. Vietnam’s ambition to upgrade its stock market from frontier to emerging to attract stronger foreign capital flows and compete globally has been widely discussed. However, one of the biggest hurdles is the FOL restriction. Before 2015, foreign investors were limited to owning a maximum of 49% of shares in public companies, even in non-restricted business sectors. This policy aimed to shield domestic firms from foreign dominance but ultimately made the local market less attractive to international investors. In 2015, the Government’s Decree 60/2015/ND-CP was seen as a game changer. For the first time, public companies could increase their FOL to 100%, provided that they […]