16 March 2014 (07:35 UTC-07 Tango)/14 Jumada l-Ula 1435/25 Esfand 1392/16 Ding-Mao 4712

State Bank of Vietnam Circular No 05/2014/TT-NHNN goes into effect in April 2014, it says that all Foreign Indirect Investments (FII) into Vietnam must be made in Vietnamese  Dong, not U.S. dollars (or any other currency).

FII is when somebody from outside your country invests in ‘properties on paper’ in your country, without actually buying land/buildings.  Those properties could be held as securities, funds or private equity.  Vietnam also considers investments into businesses without owning or controlling them as FII.

The new law is specifically for investors living outside Vietnam.  The FII will also be non-transferable to foreign credit institutions or foreign banks.  This is an attempt to stop money laundering (as well as keep most of those FII in-country).