Securities firms, issuers fined for bond issuance violations

Of 21 securities firms under the supervision, seven companies were periodically inspected while 14 were irregularly checked.

Tan Hoang Minh logo. Three securities firms were fined in connection with Tan Hoang Minh's bond issuance scandals. — Photo vietnamfinance.vn

As a result, six securities companies violated regulations on providing private placement bond services. Specifically, VISecurities was fined VN250 million (US$10,562) for providing consulting services on private bond offering dossiers, providing depository services, and transferring private placement bonds without the SSC's approval.

Thanh Cong Securities JSC (TCSC) was fined VND50 million for disclosing information not in accordance with the regulation on early bond redemption.

Tien Phong Securities JSC (TPS) violated regulations on providing consulting services on corporate bond offering documents.

Three other securities companies – Everest Securities (EVS), KIS Vietnam Securities (KIS) and An Binh Securities (ABS) – were subject to unexpected inspections related to the Tan Hoang Minh case. Thereby, the authorities also detected violations that did not ensure the accuracy and verifiability of the information in the dossiers of the offering or private placement and violated the regulations on information disclosure.

Meanwhile, after inspecting nine issuers, eight out of nine companies violated regulations on bond issuances. Of which, Apec Group JSC and VsetGroup JSC published bonds to the public without registering with the SSC as prescribed. The SSC has fined each enterprise VND600 million and requested to withdraw the issued bonds and refund the bond payment if requested by investors.

In addition, results from a sudden inspection of Hong Hoang Investment Trading JSC and Seaside Homes Real Estate Investment and Development Company Limited under the direction of the Ministry of Finance show that both businesses violated regulations on time of disclosing information as prescribed by Decree 153 and shall be fined VND70 million.

Other four issuers were found to be in violation of their information disclosure obligations during periodic inspections. They were Dong Nai Traffic Construction Investment JSC, Tan Phu Vietnam JSC, Danh Khoi Group JSC, and VRC Real Estate and Investment JSC.

The Ministry of Finance is handling these cases according to regulations.

According to a review of investors' filling, the SSC has sanctioned Viet Hung Industrial Investment JSC against violating information disclosure on time.

Widening the space to access credit for real estate businesses Real estate businesses are under great pressure as loans are limited and bond issuance is no longer easy. Capital has been an extremely painful problem for the real estate market recently. Since April market liquidity has been low, including primary and secondary goods.

Legal basis for corporate bond issuance important for real estate sector Building a solid and long-term legal basis for corporate bond issuance was an urgent solution to build a capital market for the real estate sector.