Eight banks and 13 companies have filed their applications to acquire the license needed to trade gold bullion, the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the State Bank of Vietnam announced Tuesday. The SBV has authorized its HCMC branch to evaluate whether or not these applicants are qualified for the license, branch deputy director Nguyen Hoang Minh said. Under the government’s decree No.24, banks and gold companies that fail to meet the conditions to trade gold bullion have to cease operation as of January 30, 2013, and the SBV is authorized to grant new licenses for those qualified. The HCMC branch has sent officials to conduct the inspections, and will try to release the reports as soon as possible, Minh said. “We will try to complete this soon, in order to establish a network for gold bullion trading in the city, as well as to meet public demand,” he said. All commercial banks in the city also stopped mobilizing gold deposits as of Monday, under the ban from the central bank. The Saigon Jewelry Co has so far converted 155,000 taels of non-SJC gold and distorted gold bars into SJC products. Earlier this year the company was chosen as the national gold brand name.