S.Korea Mirae Asset opens Vietnam brokerage venture

HANOI, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Mirae Asset Securities (037620.KS), the brokerage arm of South Korea's biggest mutual fund firm, Mirae Asset, said on Thursday had opened brokerage in Vietnam.

The brokerage, 49 percent owned by Mirae Asset Securities, obtained a business licence on Dec. 18 with a registered capital of 300 billion dong ($18.6 million) and opened its head office in Ho Chi Minh City, the firm said in a statement.

It did not name the partners.

Mirae Asset had about 65 trillion won ($69.84 billion) in assets under management at the end of October.

The firm said last month it planned to launch a listed fund worth about $500 million in January that would look to invest around 30 percent of its equity in developing markets, with China, Vietnam and India the main targets. ($1=16,114 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Michael Battye)