Landmark anti-corruption cases help better Vietnam stock, bond markets: police officer

By Anh Minh

Sat, January 6, 2024 | 10:51 am GMT+7

Investigations into and the handling of a series of corruption cases in the private sector have helped improve the performance of the stock and bond markets, said a senior police official.

In response to reporters’ questions at a regular government press meeting late on Friday, Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, noted that his ministry was the key force in the anti-corruption drive in 2023, in the spirit of upholding the rule of law and going through “no-go” zones.

Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, speaks at a regular government press meeting in Hanoi on January 5, 2024. Photo courtesy of the government's news portal.

The stand out cases have been the market manipulation scandal at FLC Group, a bond scam at Tan Hoang Minh Group, bank dealings at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), policy maneuvers at vehicle register centers nationwide, fuel trading fraud at Xuyen Viet Oil, and natural resource appropriation in An Giang province.

“It’s obvious that after those cases, those with malign intentions of manipulation will have to think again,” Xo stressed.

The arrests of Trinh Van Quyet, former chairman of Hanoi-based FLC Group in March 2022, Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group, and her associates from October 2022 rocked the Vietnamese stock market. The VN-Index, which tracks Vietnam’s major bourse the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange dropped 34% that year.

Violations of bond issuance regulations at several firms in Van Thinh Phat Group’s network forced the finance ministry to tighten conditions for corporate bond sales, leading to a period of doldrums and caution.

Since mid-2023, the local corporate bond market has shown signs of warming up. In November, there were 27 corporate bond sales privately placed with a combined value of VND27.47 trillion ($1.13 billion), 14 times higher than a year earlier. Between December 1-22, 2023, local companies raised a combined VND16.48 trillion ($678.2 million) from bonds in private placements, tripling the same period of 2022, according to VNDIRECT Securities.

The VN-Index ended up 12.2% year-on-year in 2023, exchange data showed.

Tags:

Vietnam

stock market

corporate bond

To An Xo

Comments (0)

Latest|Most liked

Tags:

Honda, Toyota urge Vietnam to provide tax, fee incentives for cars, hybrid EVs

Honda and Toyota, based in Vietnam’s northern province of Vinh Phuc, have urged Vinh Phuc authorities to propose relevant authorities provide tax and fee incentives for automobiles and hybrid electric vehicles (EV).

Companies - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 4:14 pm GMT+7

Vietnam's leading publisher hailed for textbook price reductions

The Vietnam Education Publishing House (VEPH) achieved remarkable success in 2024, particularly in implementing synchronous solutions to reduce textbook prices, said Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong.

Companies - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 3:44 pm GMT+7

Schneider Electric keen to partner with Nvidia in developing data centers in Vietnam

Schneider Electric is keen to cooperate with U.S tech giant Nvidia in developing data centers in Vietnam, said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chairman of the French industrial technology giant.

Economy - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 3:27 pm GMT+7

Fitch downgrades SCG Chemicals to A- partly due to Long Son Petrochemicals in Vietnam

Fitch Ratings has downgraded SCG Chemicals (SCGC), an arm of Thailand’s giant Siam Cement Group (SCG), from “A(tha)” to “A-(tha)” for its senior unsecured rating of THB100 billion medium-term note program.

Companies - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 2:59 pm GMT+7

Over 64% of Japanese firms in Vietnam expect profit in 2024: Jetro survey

Up to 64.1% of Japanese companies in Vietnam expected to make profits in 2024, up 9.8 percentage points from the previous year, according to a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro).

Economy - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 12:15 pm GMT+7

Carlsberg to up central Vietnam factory to 600 mln liters per year

Carlsberg is seeking permission to raise the capacity of its Hue factory in central Vietnam from 360 million to 600 million liters, or up 67%.

Companies - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 10:32 am GMT+7

Thai council urges ASEAN unity in US trade talks

The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) of Thailand has recommended that Thailand collaborate with other ASEAN nations to negotiate trade agreements with the US to avoid high import tariffs and penalties.

Southeast Asia - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 9:35 am GMT+7

Coffee, non-alcoholic beverages generate 83 mln in 2024 net revenue for Vietnam instant coffee major

Vinacafé Bien Hoa, Vietnam's leading instant coffee maker, earned VND16 (0.06 U.S. cents) in gross profit for every VND100 ($0.4) of net revenue from coffee and non-alcoholic beverage sales, down 2% year-on-year.

Companies - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 9:31 am GMT+7

Indonesia welcomes WTO ruling on EU curbs on palm oil biofuel

Indonesia has welcomed a recent ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which found that the European Union (EU) discriminated against Indonesian palm oil-based biofuel, giving it unfair and detrimental treatment, in setting biofuel regulations, according to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.

Southeast Asia - Wed, January 22, 2025 | 8:40 am GMT+7