Investors frustrated
From the end of 2020, when the market liquidity soared to VND10 trillion - VND15 trillion, the HoSE automated trading system became congested, and it was difficult for investors to send buy and sell orders. Recently, this error happened more frequently, causing frustration to investors, significantly affecting the stock market. Specifically, in the trading session on Thursday last week, when the stock market was trading normally, the HoSE trading system suddenly faced network congestion, the price list displayed false information, even the stock prices on the trading floor jumped wildly.
Currently, the authorities are offering several solutions to prevent network congestion for the stock market, but in general, these are still situational solutions. According to the State Securities Commission (SSC), to completely solve this network congestion problem, it can only rely on the HoSE's new trading system. However, the commissioning of this trading system was delayed because Korean experts could not go to Vietnam due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier, the HoSE signed a contract with the Korea Stock Exchange (KRX) to develop this trading system. According to the HoSE's plan, it will take four months to test the new trading system, and it will be put into operation by the end of 2021 at the latest.
While waiting for the new system to come into operation, the HoSE is consulting market members and investors on some solutions to unfreeze the trading system on the HoSE, such as increasing the round lot, and not allowing to modify and cancel orders. Of these solutions, the proposal to raise the minimum round lot on the HoSE from 100 shares to 1,000 shares to reduce the system load has raised controversy among investors.
Ms. Hoa Trieu, a small investor in District 7 in HCMC, said that after the HoSE increased the minimum round lot from 10 shares to 100 shares, with only 98 VHM shares in her account, she could not trade stocks anymore. According to regulations, investors who want to sell odd lots must sell them at the price floor - the lowest price that investors can buy stocks - and pay securities transaction fees and personal income tax to the securities company. However, even when they have to sell their stocks at a price lower than the market price, it is not always possible for them to sell. They have to wait until the securities company buys in before they can sell.
She added that in the past if she had about VND100 million, she could still invest in stocks of large-cap enterprises in the VN30-Index group. If the HoSE increases the minimum round lot to 1,000 shares, investors with little capital will be eliminated from the game. It will be difficult for them to have opportunities to invest in reputable companies in the market, whose market stock price is over VND100,000 per share.
Authorities should use domestic resources to resolve this problem
To reduce the system load, at the beginning of January this year, the HoSE raised the minimum round lot from 10 shares to 100 shares, but the trading system is still congested.
An investor watches the stock trading session on March 8. (Photo: SGGP)
Last weekend, the leader of VNDIRECT Securities Company (VNDS) signed a document to the members of the Board of Directors, proposing the transfer of its VND shares from the HoSE to the HNX. It is the first enterprise to change the trading floor.
In the trading session on March 8, network congestion continued to occur on the HoSE, so in the second half of the afternoon trading session, the VN-Index was almost flat.
