Vietnam is redefining the boundaries of corporate finance by shifting its gaze from heavy machinery to lines of code and data sets. In a move to align its financial infrastructure with a rapidly digitizing economy, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is proposing a significant expansion of the assets eligible for financial leasing, officially bringing intangible digital assets into the fold.
The proposed regulatory update seeks to modernize the current framework, allowing leasing companies to provide financing for software, data, intellectual property, and other digital assets. For years, financial leasing in Vietnam has been dominated by “hard” assets—trucks, factory equipment, and construction machinery. However, as the country pushes its digital transformation agenda, the SBV recognizes that the tools of modern production are increasingly invisible.
This shift comes as the State Bank of Vietnam requests public and industry feedback on a draft circular designed to regulate the activities of general finance companies and financial leasing firms. The move is a direct response to the evolving needs of tech-driven enterprises that require capital to acquire expensive software licenses or proprietary data, but lack the traditional physical collateral typically required by lenders.
Bridging the Gap Between Hardware and Software
Under the current regulatory regime, specifically Circular No. 26/2024/TT-NHNN issued on June 28, 2024, the scope of eligible assets for financial leasing has been relatively restrictive. The new draft proposes a dual classification system that formally separates assets into tangible and intangible categories.
Tangible assets remain the traditional bedrock of the industry, consisting of physical objects such as machinery, equipment, and transport vehicles that maintain their physical form throughout their use. The innovation lies in the formalization of intangible assets. These are defined as assets without a physical form, specifically including software, usage rights, intellectual property, and data.
To ensure stability and risk management, the SBV has outlined strict criteria for any asset—physical or digital—to be eligible for financial leasing:
- Legal Compliance: The asset must not be on any prohibited list for purchase, sale, use, export, or import.
- Institutional Restrictions: The assets cannot be of a type that credit institutions are legally barred from trading, which specifically excludes real estate transactions.
- Longevity: Because financial leasing is categorized as a medium-to-long-term credit activity, the asset must have a useful life of more than one year.
The proposal is grounded in a cross-reference of several key legal pillars, including the Civil Code, the Law on Intellectual Property, the Law on Data Protection, and the Law on the Digital Technology Industry, ensuring that the financial leasing of digital assets in Vietnam is supported by a robust legal foundation.
Reducing Friction: The 400 Million VND Threshold
Beyond the types of assets being leased, the SBV is addressing the administrative bottlenecks that have historically hampered smaller leasing contracts. The draft circular proposes raising the upper limit for “low-value” financial leasing contracts from 100 million VND to 400 million VND.
This adjustment is more than a simple number change. This proves a strategic move to reduce the bureaucratic burden on both the lender and the borrower. For contracts classified as “low-value,” leasing companies are not required to perform a rigorous audit of the economic efficiency of the usage plan for the leased asset. While the company must still verify the legality of the asset’s use and the borrower’s financial capacity to repay the debt, the removal of the efficiency audit saves significant time and administrative costs.
The push for this increase came largely from the Association of Financial Leasing Companies, which argued that the 100 million VND ceiling was obsolete. Data indicates that the previous threshold was too low to be practical for most business needs, leading many leasing firms to avoid contracts in that bracket entirely.
| Feature | Current Regulation (Circular 26) | Proposed Draft Circular |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible Assets | Primarily tangible/physical assets | Tangible and Intangible (Software, Data, IP) |
| Low-Value Limit | Up to 100 million VND | Up to 400 million VND |
| Review Process | Strict efficiency audits for most | Simplified audits for leases < 400m VND |
| Minimum Asset Life | > 1 year | > 1 year (maintained) |
Market Realities and Institutional Demand
While the “low-value” threshold is being raised to help smaller players, the Vietnamese leasing market remains overwhelmingly institutional. Current data from credit institutions shows that institutional investors account for over 98% of the total outstanding credit volume, with private individual customers making up only about 1.2%.
The vast majority of leasing activity involves high-value assets. Contracts with outstanding balances exceeding 1 billion VND represent over 85% of the total outstanding leasing amount. In contrast, contracts under 100 million VND account for a negligible 0.2% of the total volume. This explains why the demand for leasing is centered on production-grade machinery and transport vehicles rather than consumer goods.
By aligning the leasing threshold with the proposed 400 million VND limit for small loans (currently being considered in the draft amendment to Circular No. 39/2016/TT-NHNN), the SBV is attempting to create a consistent credit ecosystem across different types of lending and leasing products.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice.
The next step for these changes depends on the feedback gathered from financial institutions and industry stakeholders. Once the consultation period closes, the State Bank of Vietnam will finalize the circular, which will then provide the official roadmap for how software and data will be valued and leased across the country.
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