KDC Manipulation: 3 Fined VND 4.5B, Banned 2 Years Over 61 Accounts

Overview

Vietnam’s State Securities Commission (UBCKNN) imposed total fines of VND 4.5 billion on three individuals and banned them from trading for two years for manipulating shares of KIDO Group (HOSE: KDC) through 61 securities accounts. Seventeen individuals who lent accounts used in the scheme were suspended from trading for nine months. The decision, dated 28 October, is the most concrete regulatory action against KDC-related trading in the 2024-2025 period.

Key Facts

• Three individuals fined VND 1.5 billion each, for a total of VND 4.5 billion: Thang Phú Minh, Lâm Thúy Hằng and Dương Thái Phương Thảo.
• The manipulation ran from 02/05/2024 to 06/01/2025, using a combined 61 securities accounts to place continuous buy and sell orders in KDC.
• Each of the three received a two-year trading ban effective 02/11/2026, plus a ban on holding positions at securities firms, fund managers and related institutions for the same period.
• Seventeen individuals were suspended from trading for nine months for lending accounts; all also face two-year trading bans from 02/11/2026.
• Eight individuals lent accounts to Thang Phú Minh; nine lent a combined 48 accounts to Lâm Thúy Hằng.
• UBCKNN stated its review found no basis to calculate illegal gains from the violations by either the three individuals or the 17 account lenders.
• During the manipulation window, KDC fell from above VND 62,000 to around VND 53,000 in the second half of June 2024, a drop of up to 15%, later slipping below VND 48,000 before rebounding.

What Happened

According to the UBCKNN announcement, the three individuals used 61 securities accounts to continuously buy and sell KDC shares, creating artificial supply and demand in the stock. The regulator characterised the conduct as market manipulation under Vietnamese securities rules. The sanctions combine administrative fines with preventive measures: trading bans and prohibitions on serving in management or advisory roles at securities companies, fund management firms, foreign fund management branches and securities investment companies.

The same decision addressed the account-lending side of the scheme. Eight named individuals lent accounts to Thang Phú Minh, while nine others lent a total of 48 accounts to Lâm Thúy Hằng, which the regulator said enabled the manipulation. Those 17 people received nine-month trading suspensions and two-year trading bans. The commission said it could not establish a basis for calculating unlawful profit for any of the 20 individuals involved, meaning the penalties rest on the conduct itself rather than disgorgement of gains.

Market Context

KDC, listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), closed at VND 50,200 on 30 October 2026, well below the VND 62,000-plus level seen before the manipulation window began. The stock’s slide through mid-2024 and subsequent volatility coincided with the period the regulator examined. KIDO Group sits in the consumer staples sector, where valuations have been pressured by soft domestic consumption and input-cost swings. The case also reflects a broader Vietnamese regulatory push against account lending and wash trading, an enforcement theme that has picked up across HOSE and HNX listings in recent years.

Strategic Significance

For long-term holders, the value of this decision lies less in the fine, which is small relative to KIDO’s market capitalisation, than in the regulatory signal. The commission pursued not only the traders but also the 17 account providers, establishing that lending a brokerage account carries direct personal consequences. That should raise the cost of the layered-account tactics that have historically distorted liquidity and price discovery in mid-cap Vietnamese stocks. For KDC specifically, the closure of the case removes an overhang of uncertainty around past trading behaviour, though it does not address the operating fundamentals that will ultimately drive the shares.

What to Watch

• Whether the three individuals or the 17 account lenders appeal the decisions, and any revision to the effective dates.
• KIDO Group’s next quarterly earnings release for evidence on revenue and margin trends in its core food businesses.
• Any follow-on UBCKNN enforcement against securities firms whose systems hosted the 61 accounts.
• Foreign-ownership and block-trade filings in KDC for signs of institutional repositioning after the case closes.
• Trading liquidity and price behaviour in KDC over the coming quarters as a gauge of whether artificial volume has genuinely diminished.