Starting a brokerage from Vietnam

It took effect on 9 February 2026 and repealed Decree No. 88/2019/ND-CP together with the 2021 decree that amended it, so articles still quoting Decree 88 are out of date. Article 27(8) fines two acts at VND 200 million to 250 million each: carrying on foreign exchange activity without a licence from the competent authority, and dealing in or providing foreign exchange derivatives not in line with the law. Those amounts are for an individual. Article 5(3)(a) doubles every fine for an organisation, which makes it VND 400 million to 500 million.

Lesser breaches cost less. Moving foreign currency or Vietnamese dong out of or into the country not in line with the law carries VND 30 million to 50 million for an individual under Article 27(4)(h), and the money can be confiscated. Article 43 of the ordinance adds that, depending on how serious a breach is, it can also lead to criminal liability. Which provision a particular set of facts falls under is a question for a Vietnamese lawyer.

Exchange-traded derivatives follow the securities rules instead. Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP, as amended by Decree No. 306/2025/ND-CP from 9 January 2026, allows only securities companies and fund management companies holding a State Securities Commission certificate to carry on derivatives business, and a fund manager may only give advice. A securities company that brokers derivatives needs a full securities business licence and charter capital and owner's equity of at least VND 800 billion. What trades there are futures and options on securities, stock indices or other assets the Government names, on the stock exchange, with clearing through the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. That is an exchange business, a long way from an online broker that takes the other side of its clients' orders.

The reason is the ordinance: foreign exchange business belongs to institutions the State Bank approves, and the State Bank's leadership has called the forex platforms operating in Vietnam a breach. Our comparison of offshore licence jurisdictions sets out the usual choices.

Putting your own money into that company is a foreign exchange question as well. Under Articles 13 and 14 of the ordinance, a resident permitted to invest directly abroad must open a foreign currency account at an authorised credit institution and register the transfer of capital through it under State Bank rules, and under Article 15 capital and profits sent home come back through such an account. Agree the outward investment with counsel before any money leaves.

Two practical points follow. Both police cases described below began with unlicensed companies in Hanoi hiring sales staff to sell forex and derivatives trading, so decide early where your sales team sits and whom it calls. And put your questions to payment providers in writing before you register anything; our guide on why the payment questions come first has the list. Our guide to licence, capital and running costs is a starting point for the budget. This is not legal advice. For that, instruct a lawyer qualified in Vietnam.

On 10 December 2024 Hanoi police described two rings built on fake international forex exchanges. In the first, a group set up shell companies in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces from 2021, recruited about 1,000 staff to sell forex and derivatives trading without being registered for securities or financial business, and ran five English-language websites presented as international exchanges but wired to bank accounts the group controlled. Police identified 2,661 victims across the country, seized or froze assets estimated at more than VND 5,200 billion and charged 31 people. In the second, a front company with three Hanoi offices had sales staff pose as market experts and press clients into high-risk orders until they could pay no more; 22 victims lost more than VND 30 billion, and 33 people were charged with fraud.

The warnings continue. A ministry notice of 2 May 2025 tells people to invest only through exchanges that state management agencies have licensed, and its list of 25 online scam scenarios for 2026, published on 8 September 2026, includes invitations to invest in securities, digital currency and forex with promises of attractive profits. For a founder the point is plain: Vietnamese authorities see unlicensed forex selling as a fraud risk, so a brokerage planned from Vietnam should hold its licence where its clients are and show it openly.

There is no app store step: Android adds it to the home screen in one tap, and iOS takes a short guided step. The symbol list covers currency pairs, gold, silver, oil, stock indices, crypto and US stocks, and every symbol has its own spread, contract size and digits.

Leverage caps and loss protections come from the licence you hold abroad, so the platform is set to match it. Leverage is configured per account type and per account. The margin engine tracks live equity and free margin, sends a margin call warning and stops accounts out automatically at the levels you choose, starting with the position losing most. An account that still closes in deficit can be reset to zero by an admin in the CRM, and that adjustment is kept on record. Every client trade has your brokerage on the other side, kept in-house or covered with your liquidity provider as you choose. Pelris is not a liquidity provider and never holds client money.

Leads come into a pipeline that keeps each source and assignment, every client has one record holding accounts, money, trades, documents and calls, and five roles run from admin down to sales, so each agent sees only their own book.

Identity documents are reviewed in the CRM before any withdrawal is paid, which is also where your compliance staff apply the residence rule in your client terms. Deposits and withdrawals go through instantly or after approval, as you decide, against the bank and payment details you set, and sensitive staff actions are written to an audit trail. Pricing for the platform and CRM is one flat monthly fee, with no setup fee and the first month free.