Consortium to establish 'Vietnam's first gold exchange'
A group of banks and gold businesses is set to open what it says will be Vietnam's first gold exchange at the end of this month.
The Ho Chi Minh gold trading centre will open five days a week and is likely to have a maximum of 12 institutional members that are permitted to trade gold.
Trading will initially be limited to Vietnamese investors, who will have to pay a deposit of ten per cent of their transaction value, local news source Thanh Nien News reports.
Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Vietnam Export-Import Bank, Saigon Commercial Bank and Saigon Jewelry Holding Co are among those in the consortium.
The new exchange will cater for Vietnam's growing demand for gold, which is thought to have grown by some 20 per cent this year.
Global tensions have helped to keep gold prices high since its price peak a year ago, and trading in Vietnam has been volatile, according to the Vietnam Association of Gold Trading.
The group has called for the country's central bank to establish a dedicated gold bank to provide support for gold businesses.