HCMC – Two recent major legal cases linked to stock market manipulation and corporate bond issue scams prompted the Government to order a review of corporate bond issues and land auctions.
In Telegram No.304 signed by Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai on April 7, the Government set out six major tasks and urged the ministries and agencies to restore the stability of the corporate bond market and land auctions across the country.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Public Security was asked to coordinate with the relevant agencies to investigate, clarify and tackle violations, ensuring the issuance, investment, and use of corporate bonds are proper and effective. The ministry was also asked to ramp up efforts to prevent, detect and handle behaviors that take advantage of or violate regulations on land auctions for profiteering and market manipulation.
The minister of finance and the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam have to direct the competent agencies to keep a close watch on the financial and monetary market and the issuance, investment, distribution and transactions of corporate bonds to ensure these activities comply with the law. They must also proactively review legal frameworks, work out contingency plans and take bold steps to stabilize the market and investor sentiment, in addition to strictly handling violators.
The minister of Finance, and the chairman of the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) must quickly inspect and monitor compliance with the law among activities linked to corporate bond issues, and the use of capital raised from these bond issues.
They particularly need to pay close attention to bond issuers that are real estate developers, credit institutions linked to property firms, companies issuing a huge volume of bonds and companies with poor business performance. Reports must be sent to the prime minister before April 15.
Also, financial surveillance agencies must quickly review the prevailing regulations linked to the corporate bond market in order to make timely revisions to ensure the healthy, transparent and safe growth of the market. The agencies must report to the prime minister before April 30.
These agencies have to proactively coordinate with and provide information for the competent forces during the inspection and investigation into cases.
The minister of Natural Resources and Environment must order intensifying inspections into land and property auctions across localities and timely handle cases showing abnormal behaviors that could disrupt the market. The ministry also has to review regulations on land auctions to propose necessary amendments.
In addition, the SBV governor was told to direct inspections into credit institutions involved in corporate bond issues and land auctions.
As for the heads of provincial governments, they must closely monitor activities related to land auctions to ensure their compliance with the law, the prime minister said.
