Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange cancels FLC share sale, freezes chairman's accounts

The decision was made on directions from the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC), the HoSE announced Tuesday evening.

The transaction was canceled because Trinh Van Quyet, chairman of property and leisure company FLC Group, had failed to report his sale of the stocks.

The SSC said earlier that the filing for the sale was only done at 5:45 p.m. Monday, three hours after trading had ended at the HoSE, where FLC is listed.

By then Quyet had already sold the shares.

The law requires major shareholders to announce planned stock sales in advance.

The HoSE website briefly carried an announcement saying Quyet wants to sell 175 million FLC shares and reduce his ownership in the company from 30.34 percent to 5.7 percent. The announcement was released Jan. 5, but SSC said that it only received the expected transaction report at the end of the afternoon on Jan. 10.

Between Jan. 5 and 10, there had been no information about the trading on either website of FLC or the HoSE.

On Monday, FLC closed at the floor price of VND21,150 ($0.93) with 134.96 million shares being traded, the highest volume since its listing on HoSE in 2013.

During the session, the price also went up to its ceiling of VND24,100, a new high.

At that price, Quyet’s sale of 74.8 million shares would have fetched VND1.8 trillion ($79.28 million).

FLC has doubled since September 2021 and gained 363 percent since January that year. In five straight sessions until Monday when Quyet sold his shares, it went up from VND18,000 to VND23,600.

On Facebook stock trading groups, investors have been calling Quyet a "fraudster" for the surreptitious sell-off.

Other stocks related to FLC, like ROS of FLC Faros and HAI of HAI Agrochem Jsc were dropping rapidly on Tuesday session.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Hanoi, FLC Group operates in real estate development. It provides real estate developing, real estate consulting and investment, financial consulting, and property exchange services.

As a multi-sector corporation, the company’s other activities include construction, aviation (as the owner of Bamboo Airways), healthcare, education, advertising, construction, and hospitality, among others.

In 2011, FLC Group’s brand gained national recognition following its listing on the Hanoi Stock Exchange.

After nearly two years on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, in August 2013, it listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.