Vietnam SSC Fines Three Traders VND 4.5B for Manipulating KDC Shares via 61 Accounts

Overview

Vietnam’s State Securities Commission (SSC) fined three individuals a combined VND 4.5 billion and banned them from securities trading for two years for using 61 accounts to manipulate shares of Kido Group (KDC, HOSE) between May 2024 and January 2025. In the same round of enforcement, Pha Lai Thermal Power (PPC) disclosed a tax penalty and back-tax assessment totaling more than VND 876.7 million from Hải Phòng tax authorities.

Key Facts

• The SSC fined Thang Phú Minh, Lâm Thúy Hằng and Dương Thái Phương Thảo VND 1.5 billion each, for a total of VND 4.5 billion.
• The three used 61 securities accounts to continuously buy and sell KDC shares from 2 May 2024 to 6 January 2025, creating artificial supply and demand.
• The regulator found no illegal profit from the manipulation, according to its inspection and calculation results.
• All three are banned from securities trading for two years from 2 November 2026, and from holding positions at securities firms, fund management companies and foreign fund management branches in Vietnam over the same period.
• The SSC issued decisions against 20 individuals in total in connection with the KDC case.
• PPC was fined more than VND 139.2 million, equal to 20% of the understated tax, for incorrectly declaring 2025 corporate income tax.
• PPC must pay an additional VND 696.1 million in corporate income tax and VND 41.3 million in late payment interest, calculated at 0.03% per day from 1 April to 15 October 2026.

What Happened

The SSC issued penalty decisions and preventive measures against 20 individuals linked to manipulation of KDC shares of Công ty cổ phần Tập đoàn Kido, according to the regulator’s announcement. Its surveillance and inspection found that Thang Phú Minh, Lâm Thúy Hằng and Dương Thái Phương Thảo used a combined 61 securities accounts to continuously buy and sell KDC, aiming to create artificial supply and demand and thereby manipulate the market for the stock. Each was fined VND 1.5 billion. The regulator said its review found the three did not earn illegal profits from the conduct. Beyond the fines, they face two-year trading bans from 2 November 2026 and are barred from holding roles at securities companies, fund management firms, foreign fund management branches and securities investment companies over the same period.

Separately, Pha Lai Thermal Power disclosed a decision from Hải Phòng tax authorities penalising it for administrative violations in tax. The company understated 2025 corporate income tax through incorrect declaration, a violation identified on the recommendation of the State Audit Office’s specialised audit unit VI. The penalty of more than VND 139.2 million equals 20% of the understated tax, and the company must pay an additional VND 696.1 million in tax plus VND 41.3 million in late payment interest. The total of fines, back taxes and interest comes to more than VND 876.7 million.

Market Context

KDC closed at VND 50,200 on 30 October 2026 on HOSE, while PPC closed at VND 8,730. The enforcement action caps a case that spanned roughly eight months of trading in 2024 and 2025, a period in which KDC shares were subject to unusual turnover that the regulator has now attributed in part to the 61-account scheme. For PPC, the tax assessment is small relative to the company’s scale but adds to the compliance record of a thermal power generator operating in a sector under scrutiny for emissions and tariff policy. The SSC’s willingness to name 20 individuals and impose multi-year bans signals continued emphasis on market-conduct enforcement in Vietnam’s equity market.

Strategic Significance

For KDC holders, the key point is that the regulator found no illegal profit and did not sanction the company itself, so the case is a market-conduct matter rather than a governance failure at Kido. The two-year trading ban from November 2026 removes a group of accounts that the SSC says were generating artificial volume, which may reduce distortion in KDC’s order book but also removes liquidity that was never genuine. For PPC, the VND 876.7 million assessment is immaterial to earnings but reflects audit-driven tax scrutiny of state-linked power generators, a recurring theme as the State Audit Office reviews sector accounts. The broader signal is that Vietnam’s regulator is pursuing individual account networks rather than only issuers, raising the expected cost of coordinated trading schemes.

What to Watch

• Any SSC statement or filing detailing the roles of the remaining individuals among the 20 named in the KDC case.
• KDC trading volume and foreign-ownership data in the sessions after 2 November 2026, when the trading bans take effect.
• PPC’s next financial disclosure confirming payment of the VND 876.7 million and whether further audit recommendations follow.
• Additional State Audit Office findings on power-sector tax declarations.
• Further SSC enforcement notices involving multi-account trading in HOSE consumer staples names.