UP Securities (UPS) Replaces CEO as VND 676B Private Placement Runs

Overview

UP Securities (UPSC, ticker UPS on UPCOM) has replaced its chief executive, naming Pham Thi Thuy as General Director from 26/11/2026 in place of Tran Van Chien, who resigned. The change comes while the company is selling more than 67.6 million shares in a private placement at VND 10,000 each, a deal worth up to VND 676.2 billion that would double its share count and lift charter capital to VND 1,000 billion.

Key Facts

• Tran Van Chien, born 1979 in Bắc Ninh, served as CEO of UPSC from 20/1/2025 and held 1.1 million UPS shares as of the end of Q1/2026.
• Pham Thi Thuy becomes General Director from 26/11/2026 and is also slated to be UPSC’s legal representative once the State Securities Commission approves.
• The private placement covers more than 67.6 million shares, roughly double the current shares outstanding, at VND 10,000 per share.
• Maximum proceeds are VND 676.2 billion; VND 400 billion is earmarked for proprietary trading and more than VND 276 billion for margin lending, all to be disbursed in 2026.
• The payment deadline was extended by nearly a month, from 11:00 on 21/10/2026 to 11:00 on 19/11/2026.
• Bolt Holdings is registered to buy 62.62 million shares and Chairman Chu Tuan An 5 million shares.
• Bolt Holdings was founded on 29/2/2024, is real-estate focused, and is controlled by Do Hoang Minh, son of Tan Hoang Minh Chairman Do Anh Dung; its charter capital rose from VND 10 billion to VND 1,500 billion between incorporation and April 2026.

What Happened

UPSC’s board approved the dismissal of Tran Van Chien as General Director at his own request, effective 26/11/2026, according to the company’s announcement. Chien had led the firm since 20/1/2025. Pham Thi Thuy succeeds him and will also serve as legal representative once the State Securities Commission signs off, the filing states.

Separately, the company is in the middle of a private placement of more than 67.6 million shares at VND 10,000 each. The original window for share-purchase payments ran from 21/09/2026 to 11:00 on 21/10/2026; UPSC pushed the deadline to 11:00 on 19/11/2026. The subscriber list published earlier names Bolt Holdings for 62.62 million shares and Chairman Chu Tuan An for 5 million. Bolt Holdings is a Hanoi-based real-estate company founded in February 2024 and linked to the family and associates of Tan Hoang Minh Chairman Do Anh Dung. The filing does not disclose the outcome of the placement or whether the subscribers have completed payment.

Market Context

UPS trades on UPCOM, Vietnam’s third-tier exchange, and closed at VND 21,500 on 1/11/2026, roughly double the VND 10,000 placement price. That gap matters: existing holders face dilution at a steep discount to market, and the placement’s size, equal to about twice the current share count, makes it the dominant variable for the stock. Small UPCOM securities names have generally lagged the HOSE brokerage leaders through 2026, and UPSC’s capital base remains modest relative to listed peers even after the planned increase.

Strategic Significance

The placement is the real story behind the management change. If fully subscribed, UPSC roughly doubles its equity base and directs VND 400 billion into proprietary trading and more than VND 276 billion into margin lending, both deployed in 2026. That is an aggressive bet on a rising market, and it concentrates the firm’s risk in its own book rather than in fee income. The concentration of the placement in a single related-party-style buyer, Bolt Holdings, also raises governance questions: a real-estate vehicle with capital that grew from VND 10 billion to VND 1,500 billion in about two years would become UPSC’s dominant shareholder. The incoming CEO inherits both the capital deployment and the shareholder-relations burden that comes with it.

What to Watch

• Confirmation from UPSC or the State Securities Commission that the placement closed and the VND 676.2 billion was received.
• A filing on the new charter capital and updated share count, and whether Bolt Holdings completes its 62.62 million-share subscription.
• State Securities Commission approval of Pham Thi Thuy as legal representative.
• Disclosure of any change in board composition or related-party transactions involving Bolt Holdings and the Tan Hoang Minh ecosystem.
• Q4/2026 and full-year 2026 results showing how much of the VND 400 billion proprietary and VND 276 billion margin allocation was actually deployed.