CAN INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS CONTINUE TO HOLD PRIVATE OFFERING BONDS WHICH THEY BOUGHT OR COOPERATED TO BUY BEFORE THE ISSUANCE OF DECREE 65?

Decree 65/2022/ND-CP ("Decree 65") provided higher standards when determining a professional securities investor eligible for buying private corporate bonds.

Article 3.6 of Decree  65 stipulated: “Investors have been identified as professional securities investors under Decree 155/2020/ND-CP before the effective date of this Decree, when buying private corporate bonds under Decree 153/2020/ND-CP and this Decree must take re-determination of professional securities investor in accordance with this Decree”.

Applying such provisions, for cases where individual investors are buying/cooperating to buy private corporate bonds, in order to determine whether they are allowed to continue to be held bonds, it is necessary to analyze each of the following cases:

1. In case investors have been meeting the conditions for being recognized as a professional securities investor under either the previous regulations or the regulations prescribed in Decree 65, investors are still allowed to own bonds.
2. In case investors had satisfied under the previous regulations but currently no longer meets the updated conditions under Decree 65, they are still eligible for own bonds because Decree 65 only requires the professional investor redetermination at the bond “purchase” time.
3. In case investors cooperate to buy private corporate bonds, this cooperation shall be terminated under Article 8.2 of Decree 65, bond buyers shall "not be able to sell or jointly contribute to invesst in bonds with non-professional investors in any form".