Vietnam Foreign Room Cuts: 195 Tickers Drop to 0% After Decision 36/2025

Overview

A regulatory reclassification under Decision 36/2025/QD-TTg, effective 15 November 2025, has triggered a broad reset of foreign ownership limits across the Vietnamese listed universe. Data compiled by VietstockFinance through 14 September 2026 shows 406 tickers changed their foreign room versus end-2025, of which 195 moved to a 0% ceiling. Bia Hà Nội - Quảng Bình (BQB, UPCOM) is among the names cut from 100% to zero, alongside DCG and HAV, while DWC fell from 78.13% to 0%.

Key Facts

• Decision 36/2025/QD-TTg on Vietnam’s economic sector classification took effect 15 November 2025, replacing the prior system.
• VietstockFinance counted 406 tickers with changed foreign room as of 14 September 2026, out of more than 1,500 listed stocks.
• 230 tickers reduced foreign room; 176 increased it.
• 195 tickers cut foreign room to 0%, including BQB, DCG and HAV (each from 100%) and DWC (from 78.13%).
• On the expansion side, GLT rose from 0% to 56.05% and SCD from 49% to 100.26%; PSI, WSS, AG1, DPC and DTT each moved from 49% to 100%.
• BQB last closed at VND 3,800 (30 September 2026); DWC at VND 16,500, DCG at VND 20,100 and HAV at VND 2,300.
• The adjustments follow FTSE Russell’s upgrade of Vietnam to secondary emerging market status.

What Happened

Under the new sector classification, listed companies must re-examine the business lines registered on their licences, some of which were recorded years ago and no longer match actual operations. Because registered lines of business are a primary input into the foreign ownership limit calculation, a reclassification can move a company into a restricted or conditional access category. Conditional sectors without a specified cap default to a 50% ceiling, while unrestricted sectors may carry no foreign limit at all.

For multi-sector companies, the limit is set at the lowest applicable cap across the registered lines. The article gives the example of a company operating in one sector open to 100% foreign ownership and another capped at 49%; the resulting room is 49%. The VietstockFinance dataset, cited by the article, is the basis for the 406-ticker count and the 195 zero-room cases. The article does not disclose a transaction value, as the change is a regulatory reclassification rather than a capital event.

Market Context

BQB trades on UPCOM at VND 3,800, a price level consistent with a small-cap brewery with limited liquidity. The affected group spans food and beverage, securities and other sectors, and the common thread is a licence review rather than a change in operating performance. The broader Vietnamese market is digesting the FTSE Russell upgrade, which is expected to draw incremental passive and active foreign capital, but that capital can only be deployed where room exists.

Strategic Significance

The practical consequence is a bifurcation of the investable universe. Companies that expanded room, such as GLT, SCD, PSI, WSS, AG1, DPC and DTT, become eligible for index-tracking and foreign institutional flows at precisely the moment Vietnam enters the FTSE secondary emerging market framework. Companies that reset to 0%, including BQB, DCG, HAV and DWC, are structurally excluded from that channel until they amend their registered business lines or obtain a specific regulatory determination. For long-term investors, the licence register is now a first-order screening variable, not a formality.

What to Watch

• Company disclosures confirming whether each 0% room is permanent or pending a licence amendment.
• Updates to the State Securities Commission and Vietnam Securities Depository foreign-ownership data as new filings are processed.
• FTSE Russell index inclusion lists and any exclusion of zero-room tickers from the emerging market basket.
• BQB, DCG, HAV and DWC shareholder resolutions on amending registered business lines.
• Further VietstockFinance room-change tallies to see whether the 195 zero-room count stabilises or grows.