VIS Rating chairman to take over as new head honcho of LPBank Securities

Pham Phu Khoi, currently chairman of Vietnam Investment Credit Rating JSC (VIS Rating), was elected chairman of LPBank Securities (LPBS) at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) on Thursday.

The EGM also approved the resignation of board members Le Minh Tam and Nguyen Huy Du at their personal requests. Tam had resigned as the company’s chairman several days ago. The reason for his resignation was not disclosed.

Khoi, 61, has 37 years of experience in the finance sector. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He had earlier obtained a Master's degree in Aviation Economics from the Riga Civil Aviation Engineers Institute in Latvia (former Soviet Union).

Other prominent positions Khoi has previously held include deputy CEO and director of the Financial Markets Division, and director of the Debt Asset Management Center at VPBank, and Chairman of VPBank Securities (VPBS).

He also served as CEO of ACB Securities (ACBS), executive director at Merrill Lynch Bank in Singapore, and regional director of credit business for emerging markets at Standard Chartered Bank, also in Singapore.

Khoi also managed the Asian corporate bond portfolio at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong and was director for Northeast Asia with national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

Currently, he is also vice president of the Vietnam Bond Market Association (VBMA) and a lecturer for various training courses that the association conducts.

The company

Originally established in 2009 as Viettranimex Securities JSC, the company changed its name to Lien Viet Securities JSC in April 2010. Two years later, it had doubled its capital from VND125 billion to VND250 billion ($10.16 million).

For many years, it was known as a subsidiary of real estate developer Him Lam, with Duong Cong Minh as chairman since June 2013.

In 2017, Him Lam transferred its entire 89.5% stake, worth VND223.75 billion ($9.09 million) per par value, of the company’s charter capital, to Nguyen Thi Bich Hong, who then took over as chairwoman.

In mid-July 2023, Hong transferred 21 million shares, reducing her ownership from 89.5% to 5.5%. At the same time, Pham Thu Hang reported acquiring 66% of this stake, equivalent to 16.5 million shares. Hong stepped down from her position as chairwoman at the end of August 2023.

After these changes, Vu Thanh Hue was elected as new chairwoman, owning 2.25 million shares (9% of the company’s charter capital) at the time of her appointment on August 28, 2023.

Hue plays significant roles in various other ecosystems, including being a board member and deputy CEO of Thaiholdings (THD), board member of Trang An Valuation JSC, and chairwoman of AMT Debt and Assets Trading JSC.

Along with the leadership change, the company was renamed LPBank Securities JSC, strengthening its collaboration with LPBank. During the second EGM in 2023, Le Minh Tam was elected chairman and Vu Thanh Hue became its vice chairwoman.

In addition to personnel restructuring, this meeting approved a plan to raise the company’s charter capital from VND250 billion to VND3,888 billion ($158 million) to support margin trading and proprietary investment, as also expand its business network. In April 2024, the company successfully completed the capital augmentation.