HANOI: The Industry and Trade Ministry is seeking public feedback on a proposed Law on Commodity Derivatives Trading to close regulatory gaps and establish a comprehensive legal framework for the country’s fast-growing derivatives market.
The law would replace fragmented regulations currently scattered in the 2025 Commercial Law and related decrees with a specialised and modern legal framework aimed at ensuring transparency, fairness and safety in derivatives trading, while strengthening investor protection and limiting systemic risks.
It would also provide an important legal foundation for developing commodity derivatives into an effective price risk management tool for firms and the wider economy, promoting development of major commodities, supporting industrialisation and global integration, the ministry said.
The ministry added that the law would prioritise derivatives based on agricultural commodities, one of Vietnam’s key export sectors, to help guide production, improve quality and create more transparent and stable distribution channels.
It would also allow a gradual expansion into new products such as energy, metals, carbon credits and digital asset-linked commodities.
According to the draft, commodity derivatives are financial instruments whose value is linked to underlying commodities and can include futures, options, swaps and contracts for difference.
Derivatives markets have recently emerged in Vietnam, allowing trading in commodities like agricultural products, metals and energy.
However, officials said existing regulations are general and do not fully address the complexity of derivatives trading, including margin requirements, clearing mechanisms and systemic risk management.
The current legal framework lacks clear definitions of commodity derivatives, comprehensive risk controls, investor protection provisions and rules governing cross-border trading, the ministry said.
It added that it does not provide adequate legal grounds for emerging products such as carbon credits, green finance instruments or digital asset-linked commodities.
Vietnam currently has only one licensed commodity exchange, the Mercantile Exchange of Vietnam, whose scale and services remain limited. — Viet Nam News/ANN
