The State Bank of Vietnam issued Circular 38/2026/TT-NHNN on 31 July 2026. It took effect on 18 August 2026.
It replaces Circular 06/2019/TT-NHNN, which had governed foreign exchange for foreign direct investment since 2019, and it amends Circular 03/2025/TT-NHNN on the Vietnamese-dong accounts used for foreign indirect investment.
The change with the widest reach is terminological: what Circular 06 called a direct investment capital account is now a foreign investment capital account in Vietnam. Beyond the name, the circular changes the order in which accounts may be opened, allows separate accounts for separate contributed currencies at the same bank, and permits certain foreign-invested economic organisations to open an investment capital account before an investment registration certificate has been issued or amended.
Revised in response: What Circular 38/2026 changed
This entry was written from published legal commentary rather than from the text of the circular. It still has to be checked against the official Vietnamese text.