Bourse watchdog's infringements trigger market manipulation: inspectors

Top executives at Vietnam’s State Securities Commission and two major bourses committed many violations in state management of securities activities, leading to market manipulation by some individuals, the Party’s inspectors stated.

The Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission announced its conclusions of inspections at the SSC's Party Committee in the 2015-2020 tenure on Thursday, two days after FLC Group chairman Trinh Van Quyet was arrested for alleged market manipulation.

The conclusions stated that the market regulator’s Party Committee “had violated the principle of centralized democracy and working regulations, shown lax management and a lack of responsibility, resulting in wrongdoings in providing consultations for the building of institutions, policies and in exercising state management of the stock market and securities transactions.”

The violators included Vu Bang, former Secretary of the SSC’s Party Committee and former SSC Chairman; Tran Van Dung, Secretary of the SSC’s Party Committee and SSC Chairman; Nguyen Thanh Long, Secretary of the Hanoi Stock Exchange’s (HSX) Party Committee and former SSC Vice Chairman; Le Hai Tra, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange’s (HoSE) Party Committee and CEO; and Nguyen Son, Secretary of the Vietnam Securities Depository’s Party Committee and Chairman.

The inspectors noted that those wrongdoings caused serious consequences, negatively affecting the stock market, reducing investors’ trust and the prestige of the Party and the SSC, and called for disciplinary measures.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Security’s police investigators decided to launch criminal proceedings against Trinh Van Quyet, Chairman of FLC Group, and arrested him for alleged market manipulation.

On January 10, Quyet sold 74.8 million FLC shares without any reports and notifications in advance as stipulated in regulations.

The SSC then froze his securities accounts and asked the HoSE to cancel the transactions of these FLC shares. Many investors were refunded.

Eight days later, the SSC fined him VND1.5 billion ($65,600) and banned him from stock trading for five months.