SME Securities Co will list 15 million shares on the Hanoi Stock Exchange on April 7, becoming the second company to move its listing from the unlisted public securities market (UPCoM) after Trang An Securities Co, which listed shares on the exchange earlier this year.

Hanoi Stock Exchange general director Tran Van Dung said that about 10 more companies would move listings from UPCoM to the official bourse this year, beginning with firms in the securities and petroleum sectors.

Currently traded on UPCoM, APEC Securities Co, has already received approval to list 26 million shares on the Hanoi exchange in the near future.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, head of analysis for another Hanoi-based securities firm with shares traded on UPCoM, said the movement of listings from UPCoM to the Hanoi or HCM City stock exchanges has helped public firms avoid the complicated and more rigorous requirements of direct listings on the official market.

“When you list shares directly on the Hanoi market, your company must comply with profit requirements, something hard to do immediately after the recovery from the financial crisis, especially for securities companies,” Binh said.

Trang An Securities general director Le Ho Khoi said that movement of his firm’s listing to the Hanoi stock exchange was allowed after the company posted a profit in 2009 following a loss in 2008.

SME Securities’ listing of shares on April 7 was part of the company’s strategy to improve competitiveness and increase business capacity and transparency, said the stock brokerage’s general director Nguyen Minh Tuan.

SME Securities shares ended their last day of trading on UPCoM on March 29 at 17,400 VND per share. Meanwhile, the firm expected shares to trade on their opening day on the stock exchange at 20-25,000 VND./.