From FTSE's request, will the brokerage market share "war" be heated?

(Dan Tri) - With the request of FTSE, when Vietnam is upgraded and opened to international brokers, the upcoming brokerage market share "pie" is expected to have extremely large competition.

FTSE has officially announced that Vietnam will be upgraded to a frontier emerging market. This unit will apply a phased approach, with the first implementation taking place in March 2026, and the upgrade will be confirmed with effect from September 21, 2026.

The above decision is considered a historic turning point for the Vietnamese stock market. Analysts agree that after being upgraded, the Vietnamese capital market will enter a new stage of development. Investor confidence will be improved, reducing the cost of capital for businesses, making it easier for businesses to access foreign capital.

Notably, in the announcement on October 7, FTSE emphasized a prerequisite, which is that Vietnam must open its doors to international brokerage firms to be allowed to directly act as trading partners (counterparties) before the upgrade process officially takes effect in September 2026.

Specifically, FTSE wrote: "FTSE Russell Index Management Board (IGB) emphasizes that opening access to global brokers is a necessary condition for classifying Vietnam's stock market."

According to FTSE and MSCI guidelines, a market is only considered “emerging” when international institutional investors can easily access, trade, and replicate stock indices effectively.

Global ETFs such as Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) or iShares Core MSCI EM ETF (IEMG) also need to be able to buy and sell Vietnamese stocks through brokerage firms they trust, often global institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, or UBS.

With this requirement, when Vietnam is upgraded and "opened" to brokers, the upcoming brokerage market share "pie" will have extremely large competition.

While the “big guys” account for nearly 70% of the market share, there are more than 60 other securities companies sharing the remaining 30% of the “pie”. (Photo: DT).

This "war" has been and is very exciting.

The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) has just announced the Market Share Ranking of Stocks, Fund Certificates and Covered Warrants Brokerage in the third quarter. The top 5 positions on the ranking have not changed, including VPS Securities, SSI Securities, Techcombank Securities (TCBS), Vietcap Securities and Ho Chi Minh City Securities (HSC).

In the third quarter, VPS's market share continued to lead with 16.02% and increased by 1.03% compared to the first half of 2025. In second place was SSI Securities' market share with 11.82%. TCBS and MBS also expanded their market share in the third quarter, ranking 3rd with 7.75% and 6th with 5.61%, respectively.

Over the past years, securities companies have continuously injected capital, invested in technology and focused on services that increase benefits and customer experience, showing that the competition for market share is increasingly fierce.

While the "big guys" account for nearly 70% of the market share, there are more than 60 other securities companies sharing the remaining 30% "pie".

In the coming time, although the competition is expected to become more fierce when welcoming more foreign "players", according to experts, allowing international brokers to directly participate will increase transparency, reduce partner risks, and at the same time enhance the reliability of the Vietnamese market in the eyes of institutional investors.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/tu-yeu-cau-cua-ftse-cuoc-chien-thi-phan-moi-gioi-se-nong-bong-20251012150308359.htm