After nearly a decade of anticipation, Vietnam’s long-awaited KRX trading system is set to revolutionize the country’s stock market infrastructure. Once operational, the new system—developed in partnership with the Korea Exchange—will be capable of handling up to 10 times more transactions than the current platform, supporting millions of daily orders and eliminating long-standing bottlenecks that have plagued market operations.
Brokerages have spent months upgrading technology, expanding IT teams, and testing thousands of trading scenarios to ensure compatibility with the new FIX 4.4 standard. “It’s like moving from a narrow alley to a modern expressway,” said Truong Hien Phuong, Senior Director at KIS Securities Vietnam. “Investors will notice faster, smoother trading once the system goes live.”
Beyond improved speed and capacity, KRX will also pave the way for new trading products—such as VN100 index futures—and could accelerate Vietnam’s long-term goal of being upgraded from a frontier to an emerging market. The system’s test launch is expected on December 25, 2023, marking a milestone in the modernization of the country’s financial infrastructure.
This article is a condensed and translated summary (original in Vietnamese, VN) of a feature published in the December 2023 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek Vietnam.