Gov't to fine more listed firms for failing to register

On April 4, the Ha Noi Construction Corporation (HANCORP) was fined VND7.5 million (US$347) when it was found guilty of delay in registering itself as a public limited company within a year of its initial public offering (IPO) for 203 individual investors last March. Currently, the company has VND1.41 trillion (US$65.3 million) of chartered capital.

Last month also, the SSC had fined five other companies, including Nha Trang Post Hotel JSC and Thai Trung Steel Rolling JSC which had to pay the highest charge of VND340 million ($15,740) for delaying for more than a year to register with the VSD and the SSC after privatisation.

Between 2011 and 2014, these two companies had organised the IPO to increase their chartered capital from VND306 billion to VND508 billion and from VND10.2 billion to VND21.3 billion, respectively, but neither of them registered with the SSC.

The problem arises since companies that go in for public equity have some time before registering their stocks with the SSC and the VSD for trading. It means that investors cannot protect their rights and benefits, and their shares cannot be traded on the market until the companies finished registering.

Under the Decision 51/2014 issued by the Prime Minister last September, state-owned companies that were equitised after November 1, 2014 would have only 90 days to register with VSD and SSC for trading. Companies that were equitised before that date would have one year to register for trading.

However, investors think the fines are only warnings, and want protecting of their investments by reducing the time span during which companies must register their stocks with the VSD and the SSC after issues an IPO.