Foreign indirect investments must be transacted in Vietnamese dong, with related transactions being made through accounts in authorised banks, noted a new State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) circular.

Issued on March 12, Circular No 05/2014/TT-NHNN will go into effect on April 28, replacing an SBV circular on foreign exchange management for foreign investors contributing capital or buying stakes in domestic enterprises.

The rule is applicable to investors who do not reside in Vietnam , and the laws on securities and relevant stipulations concurrently regulate their activities.

Money in the investment accounts will be non-transferable to savings and term-deposit accounts at foreign credit institutions or foreign bank branches.

The central bank specifies foreign indirect investment in the country as the following forms: contributing capital or transferring stakes in local businesses without operating or managing the firms, trading bonds and securities on the stock market, transferring valuable documents issued by authorised institutions, and investing through fund management and securities companies, credit institutions and foreign bank branches.

The central bank also identifies joining and transferring capital by foreign investors in securities investment funds or fund management companies as a form of foreign indirect investment in the country.-VNA