SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

Independence - Freedom - Happiness

CIRCULAR¹

Guiding certain articles of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market

Circular No. 58/2021/TT-BTC dated July 12, 2021 of the Minister of Finance guiding certain articles of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market, effective from August 27, 2021, is amended and supplemented by:

Circular No. 14/2025/TT-BTC dated April 4, 2025 of the Minister of Finance amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 119/2020/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2020 of the Minister of Finance regulating registration, depository, clearing and settlement of securities transactions and Circular No. 58/2021/TT-BTC dated July 12, 2021 of the Minister of Finance guiding certain articles of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market, effective from June 1, 2025.

Pursuant to the Securities Law dated November 26, 2019; Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market;

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¹ This document is unified from 02 Circulars as follows:

• Circular No. 58/2021/TT-BTC dated July 12, 2021 of the Minister of Finance guiding certain articles of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market.
• Circular No. 14/2025/TT-BTC dated April 4, 2025 of the Minister of Finance amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 119/2020/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2020 of the Minister of Finance regulating registration, depository, clearing and settlement of securities transactions and Circular No. 58/2021/TT-BTC dated July 12, 2021 of the Minister of Finance guiding certain articles of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 14/2025/TT-BTC).

This unified document does not replace the 02 Circulars mentioned above.

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Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 155/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 detailing the implementation of certain articles of the Securities Law; Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 regulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance; At the request of the Chairman of the State Securities Commission; The Minister of Finance issues this Circular guiding certain articles of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market.²

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation, subjects of application

1. This Circular guides the following contents of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP):

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² Circular No. 14/2025/TT-BTC has the following basis for issuance: "Pursuant to the Securities Law dated November 26, 2019; Pursuant to the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Securities Law, Accounting Law, Independent Audit Law, State Budget Law, Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, Tax Administration Law, Personal Income Tax Law, National Reserve Law, Law on Handling Administrative Violations dated November 29, 2024; Pursuant to the Law on Citizen Identification dated November 27, 2023; Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 155/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 detailing the implementation of certain articles of the Securities Law; Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market; Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 29/2025/ND-CP dated February 24, 2025 regulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance; At the request of the Chairman of the State Securities Commission; The Minister of Finance issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 119/2020/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2020 of the Minister of Finance regulating registration, depository, clearing and settlement of securities transactions and Circular No. 58/2021/TT-BTC dated July 12, 2021 of the Minister of Finance guiding certain articles of Government's Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP dated December 31, 2020 on derivative securities and the derivative securities market."

a) Trading, clearing and settlement of derivative securities transactions, including: Stock index futures contracts, Government bond futures contracts; b) Activities of members of the Vietnam Stock Exchange and the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

2. The subjects of application of this Circular include: a) State management agencies on securities and the securities market; b) Vietnam Stock Exchange, Hanoi Stock Exchange, Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange; c) Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation; d) Organizations conducting derivative securities business, organizations providing clearing and settlement services for derivative securities transactions, settlement banks; d) Trading members, special trading members, market makers, clearing members; e) Investors and related organizations and individuals.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In addition to the terms explained in Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP, in this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. Clearing is the determination of net positions and payment obligations for participating parties in transactions.

2. Offsetting transaction is the opening of a new buy (or sell) position to reduce the sell (or buy) position of the same type of derivative securities, with the same underlying asset, and with the same expiration date opened previously.

3. Settlement price is the price of matching orders for futures contracts between investors through the trading system of the Hanoi Stock Exchange.

4. End-of-day settlement price is the price determined at the end of the trading day to calculate daily profits and losses of positions.

5. Final settlement price is the price determined on the last trading day to determine payment obligations upon contract exercise.

6. Value of clearing margin assets (hereinafter referred to as margin asset value) includes the balance in the margin deposit account and the value of the margin securities portfolio determined according to the regulations of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

7. Brokerage client is an investor conducting derivative securities transactions through the brokerage activities of a trading member.

8. Clearing and settlement client is a non-clearing member and the brokerage clients of this member who have authorized the designated clearing member to conduct clearing and settlement of derivative securities transactions.

9. Open interest of a derivative security at a certain time is the number of derivative securities contracts still outstanding at that time.

10. Margin is the act of the obligated party depositing a sum of money or accepted securities to ensure the payment obligation for derivative securities transactions.

11. Initial margin is margin deposited before conducting derivative securities transactions.

12. Margin level is the margin value or margin ratio that the obligated party must deposit for expected derivative securities contracts or maintained for outstanding derivative securities contracts.

13. Risk margin is the margin value that investors and clearing members must deposit to cover the maximum potential loss of derivative securities calculated according to price volatility scenarios of the underlying asset.

14. Futures contract parallel margin is the margin value that investors and clearing members holding futures contracts must deposit to cover additional potential losses compared to the risk margin due to differences in price volatility between the underlying asset and the futures contract.

15. Government bond futures transfer margin is the margin value that investors participating in the settlement of Government bond futures contracts must deposit to cover potential losses in case the investor does not have enough money to settle or Government bonds to transfer.

16. Cash margin ratio is the ratio between the value of cash margin assets and the total value of assets to be margined.

17. Stock index futures contract (hereinafter referred to as index futures contract) is a futures contract based on an underlying asset being a stock index.

18. Government bond futures contract is a futures contract based on an underlying asset being Government bonds or hypothetical bonds having some basic characteristics of Government bonds.

19. Clearing and settlement contract is a contract between the clearing member and the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to conduct clearing and settlement of derivative securities transactions registered under the name of the clearing member with the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

20. Derivative securities trading account is an account opened at a trading member to conduct derivative securities transactions for clients.

21. Contract exercise is the act of participating parties in futures contracts transferring the underlying asset, deliverable assets, and settling money or settling the difference between the end-of-day settlement price, settlement price, and final settlement price according to the contract content and regulations of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

22. Positions under the name of the clearing member include the positions of investors and the positions of the clearing member, specifically as follows: a) Positions in proprietary trading and market making activities (if any) of the clearing member; b) Positions of brokerage clients of the clearing member; c) Positions of clearing and settlement clients.

23. Aggregate trading account is the trading account of an investor where buy and sell positions of the same futures contract (with the same underlying asset and same expiration month) are opened and maintained until the clearing member requests the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to offset based on agreement or investor request.

CHAPTER II

DERIVATIVE SECURITIES PRODUCTS

Article 3. Stock index futures contracts

1. The underlying asset of stock index futures contracts is the stock index designed by the Vietnam Stock Exchange based on index construction and management principles issued by the Vietnam Stock Exchange after reporting and receiving approval from the State Securities Commission.
2. Stock index futures contracts upon expiration are exercised in the form of cash settlement according to regulations issued by the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.
3. The model stock index futures contract is issued by the Vietnam Stock Exchange after reporting and receiving approval from the State Securities Commission.

Article 4. Government bond futures contracts

1. The underlying asset of Government bond futures contracts is: a) Government bonds currently trading in the market; or b) Hypothetical bonds having some basic characteristics of Government bonds. The State Securities Commission builds the basic characteristics of Government bonds, designs hypothetical bonds, reports to the Ministry of Finance for approval before implementation.

2. Government bond futures contracts upon expiration are exercised in the form of cash settlement or transfer of underlying assets according to regulations of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. The settlement method must be specified before listing.

3. The model Government bond futures contract is issued by the Vietnam Stock Exchange after reporting and receiving approval from the State Securities Commission.

4. The Hanoi Stock Exchange, in coordination with the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, determines and publishes on its electronic website the following contents:

a) List of Government bonds that can be transferred, principles of determination and conversion factors (for Government bond futures contracts exercised in the form of transfer of underlying assets);

b) List of Government bonds used to determine the final settlement price, principles of determination and weight of each bond in that list (for Government bond futures contracts exercised in the form of cash settlement).

5. The determination and publication of information on Government bonds specified in Clause 4 of this Article is implemented according to regulations of the Vietnam Stock Exchange and the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. The Hanoi Stock Exchange, in coordination with the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, determines the final time point to finalize the list of Government bonds that can be transferred or used to determine the final settlement price. After that time point, the Hanoi Stock Exchange and the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation shall not adjust the aforementioned list of Government bonds.

CHAPTER III

TRADING, CLEARING, SETTLEMENT

OF DERIVATIVE SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS

Section 1

DERIVATIVE SECURITIES TRADING

Article 5. Derivative securities trading by investors

1. To trade derivative securities, investors must open a derivative securities trading account at a trading member and a clearing margin account (hereinafter referred to as margin account) at a clearing member designated by the trading member. In case the investor already has a underlying securities trading account opened at a trading member, the investor is allowed to use the trading account

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a) In case of position profit/loss settlement:

- On trading days before the last trading day, the value of the position profit/loss payment is determined daily based on open positions in the investor's trading account and the difference between the end-of-day settlement price and the end-of-day settlement price of the immediately preceding trading day; or the difference between the end-of-day settlement price and the settlement price (for positions opened on the same day); or the difference between the settlement price and the end-of-day settlement price of the immediately preceding trading day (for cases of early position closure); or the difference between the position closure settlement price and the position opening settlement price (for cases of opening and closing positions on the same trading day);

- On the last trading day, the value of the position profit/loss payment is determined based on open positions in the investor's trading account and the difference between the final settlement price and the end-of-day settlement price of the immediately preceding trading day; or the difference between the final settlement price and the settlement price (for positions opened on the same day); or the difference between the settlement price and the end-of-day settlement price of the immediately preceding trading day (for cases of early position closure); or the difference between the position closure settlement price and the position opening settlement price (for cases of opening and closing positions on the same last trading day).

The end-of-day settlement price and final settlement price are published on the electronic website of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;

b) In case of settlement upon contract exercise:

- For contracts settled in cash: The contract exercise is completed upon completion of the position profit/loss settlement of the last trading day.

- For contracts settled in the form of transfer of underlying assets: The contract exercise is completed when the selling investor must transfer the underlying asset or deliverable assets according to regulations and the buying investor must settle money according to the terms in the contract and regulations of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation; or the investor completes the payment of compensation money (if any) according to the provisions at point c, Clause 4, Article 11 of this Circular.

2. Settlement is conducted on the investor's margin deposit account and margin securities account. Settlement activities are conducted by the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and clearing members in coordination according to the provisions at Clauses 3, 4, Article 11 of this Circular.

**Article 10. Investor's margin account**

1. The clearing member opens a margin deposit account for each investor under the name of the clearing member and is responsible for managing margin deposits separately for each investor according to the provisions at point a, Clause 4, Article 34 of Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP.

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The clearing member may use the investor's margin deposit account according to the provisions of Clause 2 of this Article.

The clearing member opens 01 margin securities account for each investor to manage positions, margin obligations, clearing margin assets, deliverable assets, and settle payment obligations for positions on the investor's trading account. Non-clearing members and brokerage clients of non-clearing members open margin securities accounts at a common clearing member.

2. The investor's margin deposit account and margin securities account are only used for the following activities:

a) Receiving and returning margin assets to the investor;

b) Receiving interest or settling daily losses from the investor's positions; settling upon contract exercise; receiving interest on margin deposits at the bank (if any);

c) Receiving or transferring underlying assets, deliverable assets upon contract exercise (in case of settlement in the form of transfer of underlying assets) for the investor's positions.

3. When conducting derivative securities transactions, investors must conduct margin with the clearing member as follows:

a) Investors are responsible for depositing full initial margin for all expected open positions to the clearing member before conducting transactions, except for offsetting transactions;

b) Investors must maintain margin for their positions and must add margin when the margin asset value falls below the required margin level or the margin deposit balance does not ensure the cash margin ratio required by the clearing member. Depending on market conditions, the clearing member has the right to require investors to add margin immediately during the trading session;

c) Investors may withdraw excess margin assets if the margin asset value exceeds the required margin level specified by the clearing member;

d) When depositing initial margin or adding margin, the clearing member may require investors to deposit margin entirely in cash or allow investors to use part of the margin assets as securities according to the cash margin ratio specified by the clearing member but not lower than the cash margin ratio according to regulations of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

**Article 11. Principles of clearing and settlement by the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation**

1. Derivative securities clearing by the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is conducted per account of investors, clearing members according to the principle that offsetting positions of the same derivative security with the same expiration time on the same account are offset by the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to determine the net derivative securities position on that account.

2. The Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation has the right to refuse position offset for invalid transactions and notify the Hanoi Stock Exchange of transactions refused for position offset in the following cases:

a) Transactions already conducted by the clearing member after the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation has notified the Hanoi Stock Exchange to suspend trading for that clearing member. Transactions of the clearing member signing a clearing and settlement entrustment contract with that clearing member are also refused for position offset;

b) Received transactions with a trading date different from the working day on the system of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;

c) Transactions conducted for derivative securities codes not yet accepted for clearing and settlement on the system of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;

d) Transactions conducted by non-clearing members when not yet accepted for clearing and settlement by the common clearing member on the system of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;

d) Other cases reported by the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and approved by the State Securities Commission.

3. For daily position profit/loss settlement activities, based on the end-of-day profit/loss results on each account of investors, the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation clears money per clearing member to determine the value to be paid and received by each clearing member. Daily position profit/loss settlement is conducted in the form of bank transfer through the settlement deposit account of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation at the settlement bank.

4. For settlement upon contract exercise activities, the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation conducts settlement on the final settlement day according to the following principles:

a) In case of cash settlement: The Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation calculates payment obligations separately per investor and per clearing member. The paying clearing member must transfer sufficient money into the settlement deposit account opened at the settlement bank. The receiving clearing member is obligated to settle payment to investors immediately after receiving payment from the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;

b) In case of settlement in the form of transfer of underlying assets: The selling clearing member must transfer sufficient quantity and correct type of underlying assets or deliverable assets according to the derivative securities contract into the

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margin securities account according to the request of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. In case of insufficient securities for transfer, the clearing member may use borrowed securities from the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation's securities borrowing and lending system to settle according to the Regulations of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

The buying clearing member may only receive transferred assets after settling sufficient money according to the request of the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, then allocate to buying investors immediately after receiving transferred assets;

c) In case the clearing member does not have enough money to settle or not enough Government bonds to transfer within the specified time, the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation may conduct settlement of Government bond futures contracts in cash. In this case, the clearing member not having enough money to settle or not enough Government bonds to transfer is responsible for compensating the related clearing member through the Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, with a compensation amount not lower than 5% of the contract settlement value. The Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation regulates the determination of value and settlement methods for compensation.

5. The Vietnam Central Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation issues regulations guiding the procedure, formalities for clearing, settlement and transfer of underlying assets upon contract exercise, settlement methods and settlement time.

**Article 12. Clearing member's margin account**

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1. The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is responsible for opening margin deposit accounts and settlement deposit accounts under the name of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation at the settlement bank (hereinafter referred to as member deposit accounts) and margin securities accounts at the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (hereinafter referred to as member margin securities accounts) to manage margin assets and perform settlement obligations for positions under the name of the clearing member.

2. Member deposit accounts at the settlement bank opened for each clearing member include:

a) Proprietary margin deposit accounts to manage margin money for the proprietary trading and market making of that clearing member;

b) Customer margin deposit accounts to manage the margin money of all customers of that clearing member;

c) Settlement deposit accounts for settling daily position profits and losses, settling when executing contracts under the name of the clearing member, and other settlement activities of the clearing member.

3. Member deposit accounts and member margin securities accounts are only used for the following activities:
a) Receiving and returning margin assets to the clearing member. Margin assets in these accounts include both the assets of customers used by the clearing member to margin their own positions;
b) Receiving interest or settling daily losses for positions under the name of the clearing member; settling and receiving payments when executing contracts; receiving interest on margin deposits at the bank;
c) Receiving and transferring underlying securities when executing contracts (in the case of settlement in the form of transfer of underlying assets) for positions under the name of the clearing member.

4. Member deposit accounts and member margin securities accounts must be established to ensure the segregation of the clearing member's assets from the assets of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation; segregation of each clearing member's assets; and segregation of the clearing member's assets from the assets of the clearing member's customers.

5. At all times, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation has the right to request clearing members to provide detailed information about trading accounts, margin accounts, the value and portfolio of margin assets of each investor.

6. Money and securities arising from the exercise of rights regarding margin securities in the member margin account are allocated according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is not allowed to place margin deposits of clearing members on fixed-term deposits. Interest on margin deposits will be returned to the clearing member at the non-fixed-term interest rate announced by the settlement bank.

7. The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is responsible for establishing a system to fully manage information about positions, settlement obligations, margin balances, and the value and portfolio of margin securities for each investor's, clearing member's margin account.

**Article 13. Margin of Clearing Members**

1. The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation determines the required margin level that clearing members must deposit for positions under the name of the clearing member that are still outstanding after the end of trading hours.

2. The required margin level is determined based on various types of risk margins, margin for futures contracts, margin for transfer of Government Bond futures contracts, minimum margin, and other factors that the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation deems necessary.

3. Clearing members must deposit additional margin assets if the value of margin assets does not meet the required margin level determined by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. Clearing members may withdraw margin assets if the value of margin assets exceeds the required margin level as prescribed by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

4. Clearing members may deposit margin in money or securities, but must ensure that the cash margin ratio is not lower than 80% of the required margin level, except in cases where investors holding short positions in Government Bond futures contracts execute contracts in the form of transfer of underlying assets and use Government Bonds for margin, which may be transferred.

5. On trading days, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation periodically monitors the value of margin assets of clearing members. In case a clearing member does not ensure the value of margin assets as required, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation has the right to warn the clearing member and apply one of the following handling measures:
a) Request the Hanoi Stock Exchange to suspend trading for related trading accounts, except for offsetting transactions to reduce positions;
b) Require the clearing member (for proprietary accounts) or through the clearing member require the investor (for investor accounts) to supplement margin assets, execute offsetting transactions to reduce positions.

6. The opening of margin accounts, determination of margin types, adjustment of margin levels, methods for determining margin levels and parameters of these methods, types of assets accepted for margin, methods and timing, procedures for depositing or withdrawing margin, exercise of rights related to margin securities, and other related contents are implemented according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

**Article 14. Margin Assets**

1. Investors and clearing members are allowed to use money and securities to margin derivative securities transactions.

2. Securities allowed by clearing members to be deposited as margin assets by investors must meet the following criteria:
a) Be securities in the list of margin-accepted securities announced by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article;
b) Not be collateral in transactions according to civil law regulations on collateral transactions, including stocks purchased in margin trading transactions; not be assets under seizure by state management agencies according to relevant laws; or not be assets lent out according to law;
c) Meet other criteria of the clearing member.

3. Securities accepted by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation as margin assets for derivative securities positions must fully meet the following criteria:
a) Belong to the list of assets accepted for margin by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;
b) Not belong to the category of securities that are warned, controlled, or temporarily suspended from trading on the Hanoi Stock Exchange or Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange; or securities of issuers in the process of liquidation, dissolution, bankruptcy, merger, or acquisition;
c) Not be pledged, seized, or temporarily held at the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;
d) Belong to the category of freely transferable assets and have been deposited in trading securities accounts at the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation; be assets owned by the margin depositor, who is an investor or clearing member;
đ) Meet other criteria according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

4. The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and clearing members are responsible for announcing the list of accepted margin securities and the discount rate of each security on their electronic information pages. In case of changes to accepted margin securities, investors and clearing members are responsible for replacing them with money or other accepted margin securities as required by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and clearing members.

5. Management of margin assets:
a) The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and clearing members manage the margin assets of clearing members and investors according to the provisions in Articles 33 and 34 of Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP;
b) Clearing members are only allowed to use margin assets in the investor's margin account to margin, guarantee settlement obligations, and perform settlements for positions on the corresponding trading account of that specific investor, except for the provisions in points d and đ of this clause;
c) Investors' margin assets must be managed separately and must not and cannot be considered as assets of the clearing member, even if they have been margined in the member margin account. In case the clearing member goes bankrupt, the investors' margin assets must be returned to the investors after the investors' own settlement obligations have been completed;
d) In case an investor becomes insolvent, the clearing member is allowed to use, sell, or transfer the investor's margin assets without the investor's consent. Within 01 day after processing the margin assets, the clearing member must notify the investor about the processing of margin assets according to the methods prescribed in the derivative securities trading account opening contract. The notification must clearly state the reasons, types of assets processed, methods and timing of processing, and values realized;
đ) The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation has the right to use the margin assets of investors and clearing members deposited with the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to support settlements for positions of investors and clearing members according to the provisions in points c and đ of Clause 5 Article 28 of Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP;
e) During the margin period, investors and clearing members still receive rights and benefits arising from margin securities according to the provisions of corporate law and securities law. The handling of investors' rights regarding margin securities is implemented according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;
g) During the margin period in the margin account, investors and clearing members are not allowed to transfer, gift, mortgage, pledge, margin, bet, register as collateral, or use margin assets for other purposes.

**Article 15. Handling Insolvency Cases**

1. A clearing member or an investor who is a customer of a clearing member becomes insolvent in one of the following cases:
a) Failing to timely or fully perform settlement obligations for position losses or settlement obligations for compensation amounts according to point c Clause 4 Article 11 of this Circular, or settlement obligations for money when executing contracts according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;
b) Being declared bankrupt or declared insolvent according to enterprise bankruptcy law;
c) Other cases according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

2. In case a clearing member or an investor who is a customer of a clearing member becomes insolvent according to point a Clause 1 of this Article, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is allowed to use the following support sources to cover losses in the following order:
a) Use the margin money of the insolvent clearing member and the margin money of the customers of the insolvent clearing member;
b) In case the margin money is insufficient to cover settlement obligations, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is allowed to use the monetary contribution to the Clearing Fund of the insolvent clearing member;
c) Use the monetary contribution to the Clearing Fund of other clearing members according to the ratio determined by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. In this case, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation must notify the relevant clearing members in detail about the use of the Clearing Fund on the same day of use. The insolvent clearing member is obligated to repay the entire amount of assets used from the Clearing Fund and pay interest on the used amount to other members at the interest rate determined by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation in accordance with current legal regulations;
d) Use the business risk prevention fund of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation according to regulations;
đ) Use the legal capital sources of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation after being approved by the Ministry of Finance.

3. In addition to using the support sources prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is allowed to implement the following measures:
a) Require the insolvent clearing member to explain reasons, provide all information related to the insolvency, provide a list of customers, customer identification information, and information on the customers' margin accounts;
b) Cooperate with the Hanoi Stock Exchange to restrict or prohibit opening new positions under the name of the insolvent clearing member, except for offsetting transactions;
c) Require the insolvent clearing member to liquidate their positions according to point b Clause 5 Article 28 of Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP;
d) Open a trading account at the Hanoi Stock Exchange to execute offsetting transactions to reduce the positions of the insolvent clearing member according to point b Clause 5 Article 28 of Decree No. 158/2020/ND-CP.

4. In case an investor becomes insolvent, the clearing member is responsible for immediately notifying the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation about the investor's positions and margin asset portfolio and is allowed to implement the following measures:
a) Require the investor to close positions or the clearing member to execute mandatory liquidation of open positions of the investor;
b) Suspend receiving trading orders to open new positions from the relevant investor; simultaneously cancel unexecuted trading orders of that investor;
c) Use, sell, or transfer the investor's margin assets to purchase or serve as collateral for loans to perform settlement obligations for the investor's open positions. In case of insufficiency, the clearing member must use its own assets to perform the derivative securities contracts of the investor;
d) The investor is responsible for repaying the clearing member the entire portion of assets used by the clearing member to perform the investor's settlement obligations and bearing all related incidental costs.

5. In case a clearing member becomes insolvent and the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation has implemented support measures prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, the clearing member is responsible for repaying the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation the entire portion of assets used from the Clearing Fund, business risk prevention fund, and legal capital sources of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to ensure settlement and bearing all related incidental costs.

The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation is allowed to sell the margin assets and securities contributions to the Clearing Fund of the insolvent clearing member at prices determined by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to return the used resources and cover financial losses and costs incurred (if any) during the insolvency handling process.

6. Clearing members and investors who are customers of clearing members becoming insolvent must return the support resources used according to Clause 2 of this Article in the following order:
a) Legal capital sources of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;
b) Business risk prevention fund of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;
c) Contributions of other clearing members in the Clearing Fund;
d) Contributions of the insolvent clearing member itself in the Clearing Fund at the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;
đ) Margin money of the clearing member used to ensure settlement for the insolvent investor.

**Article 16. Clearing Fund**

1. Forms of Clearing Fund contributions:

a) Clearing members are obligated to contribute to the Clearing Fund at the initial minimum level after the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation approves the principle of registration as a clearing member, and are obligated to make periodic supplementary contributions to the Clearing Fund (if any) according to Clause 2 of this Article.

Clearing members may contribute to the Clearing Fund in money or securities according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation;

b) Clearing members are obligated to make extraordinary supplementary contributions to the Clearing Fund according to the regulations of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation in the following cases:

- The clearing member is placed in warning states according to securities law regulations on financial safety, or banking law regulations on capital safety;

- The assets contributed to the Clearing Fund by the clearing member are seized or confiscated by competent state agencies or according to court decisions;

- Other cases reported by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and approved by the State Securities Commission.

2. Contribution levels to the Clearing Fund:

a) Initial minimum contribution level: The value is 10 billion VND for direct clearing members, and 15 billion VND for general clearing members;

b) Periodically every month, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation re-evaluates the scale of the Clearing Fund and determines the Clearing Fund contribution obligation of each clearing member based on transaction scale, price volatility in the market, financial obligations, risk level, and other criteria. The contribution of each clearing member determined by periodic re-evaluation must not be lower than the initial minimum contribution level prescribed in point a of this clause.

In case the Clearing Fund contribution balance is greater than the contribution obligation, the clearing member is allowed to withdraw the difference; In case the Clearing Fund contribution balance is less than the contribution obligation, the clearing member must contribute the difference.

3. Management of the Clearing Fund:

a) Assets contributed by each clearing member to the Clearing Fund belong to the ownership of that clearing member and are managed separately by the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation from the assets of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. The Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation has full rights to use, including selling, the assets contributed to the Clearing Fund to perform obligations for positions under the name of the clearing member;

b) For monetary contributions, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation opens deposit accounts at the settlement bank to manage the money of clearing members contributing to the Clearing Fund.

For securities contributions, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation opens securities custody accounts under the name of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation to manage the securities contributions of clearing members. Dividends, bond coupons, and other rights arising from contributed securities must be returned to the clearing member after deducting related costs and taxes;