HÀ NỘI — The State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) will strengthen co-operation with the ministry of Public Securities to bolster the inspection and handling of manipulation and insider trading on the stock market.

The statement was made by Phạm Hồng Sơn, SSC vice-chairman, at a brief meeting held in Hà Nội on Monday.

“One to two cases of manipulation and insider trading will be prosecuted after the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday,” Sơn said.

“These practices cause damage to the market and listed companies and should be strictly punished.”

 “The move is a deterrent to preventing the increasing number of violations of market regulations in the stock market,” Sơn said.

He added that the SSC could only deliver administrative sanctions so it had to co-operate closely with the Ministry of Public Security to handle cases that must face criminal charges.

“In the future, we will co-ordinate more closely to rigorously handle violations so that the market operates with transparency and efficiency," Sơn said.

When handling the cases, the SSC will also consider the responsibility of brokers and securities companies regarding their relationships with individuals and organisations that adopt price manipulation practices.

Any record that shows signs of a criminal offense would be immediately transferred to the police, Sơn said.

Last year, the SSC imposed administrative sanctions on 397 cases of manipulation with fines totalling VNĐ21 billion. Nine individuals were detected as having manipulated stock prices, creating false supply and demand.

Regarding criminal cases, the Hà Nội People’s Court in October last year opened the first-ever trial in the case of 15 people who were charged with the falsification of stock trading documents, stock price manipulation and fraudulent asset transfers.

The accused included 35-year-old Trần Hữu Tiệp – former management board chairman of the Central Mining and Mineral Import Export JSC (MTM), 53-year-old Nguyễn Văn Dĩnh – former director of the mining firm Nari Hamico, and former officials of the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV) and Tiên Phong Bank (TPBank).

The defendants were reported to have falsified trading documents of MTM shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), manipulated MTM share prices and fraudulently transferred MTM stocks on the market.

This is one of three criminal cases that were discovered and prosecuted.

Bourses merger

The unification of the two existing bourses, approved by the Prime Minister recently, to establish the Việt Nam Stock Exchange would help ease disadvantages of the current separate operating models, said Tạ Thanh Bình, head of the market development department at SSC at the meeting.

Under the merger, the Hà Nội-based Viet Nam Stock Exchange would operate as a parent company for the Ha Noi Stock Exchange and HCM City Stock Exchange.

The exchange would be in charge of developing operational plans and strategies, issuing regulations about stock listings and trading, and supervising the operation of the two subsidiary exchanges.

The current separate trading systems of the two exchanges were independent and different, causing waste in social resources and costs for investors.

In addition, many departments of the two bourses, such as the research and development department, administrative department and international co-operation department, were doing the same tasks, leading to overlaps, Bình said.

According to Bình, the current trend of the world market is unification and merger of bourses into one, to increase market size and international competitiveness and reduce costs for investors.

The merger of the two stock exchanges will create maximum conditions for in-depth development. — VNS