Enterprises hesitate to list after equitization

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There were 862 equitized SOEs listed and registered for trading on two Stock Exchanges. Photo: Internet

Fines of up to VND350 million for delaying of listing after equitization

According to the Ministry of Finance, since March 1, 2020, there were 862 equitized SOEs listed/registered for trading on two stock exchanges (listed enterprises are 322 enterprises, enterprises registered for trading are 540). Currently, there are 759 equitized SOEs that have not been listed/registered for transactions.

According to the classification of the Ministry of Finance, in the list of sixteen ministries, branches and localities with unlisted enterprises after equitization, some units have many enterprises that have not yet implemented this regulation.

Specifically: Ho Chi Minh City has 99 enterprises, accounting for 13%; Hanoi has 84 enterprises, accounting for 11.7%; the Ministry of Construction has 52 enterprises, accounting for 6.85%; the Ministry of Industry and Trade has 44 enterprises, accounting for 5.8%; the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises leads the list with 147 enterprises, accounting for nearly 20% of unlisted enterprises. The remaining 46 units have 119 enterprises, accounting for nearly 16%.

The Ministry of Finance has published on its website the list of equitized SOEs that have not yet been listed or registered for transactions so that shareholders at the enterprise know and require the enterprises to strictly comply with the law. It is time for ministries, branches, localities, corporations, corporations, and SOEs to act as representatives of the owners of contributed capital in equitized SOEs to direct the representatives of the capital portion to urge these enterprises to list their shares and register for trading on the stock market in accordance with regulations.

At the same time, it directed the State Securities Commission (SSC) to review and publicize on the website of the State Securities Commission the list of equitized SOEs eligible for public companies that have been certified by the SSC to complete the public registration but have not yet listed or registered for transactions.

In addition to solutions to promote equitized SOEs to list and register for transactions on the Stock Exchange, such as publicizing the list of equitized SOEs that have not yet been listed and registered for transactions on the website of the Ministry of Finance, SSC; held a conference to disseminate regulations on listing and registration of transactions for equitized SOEs.

The State Securities Commission also sanctioned and reminded equitized SOEs that have not yet listed or registered for transactions. Accordingly, the SSC has sent a document to 251 equitized SOEs, 13 joint-stock commercial banks that have registered public companies with the SSC to notify them of violations of regulations on listing, registration of transactions, and requests for signing minutes of administrative violations to sanction according to the provisions of Decree No. 145/2016/ND-CP.

Need strict and clear sanctions from the beginning

For cases of failure to sign the minutes of administrative violations, the State Securities Commission shall send a written request to sign the minutes of violations, list and register transactions according to regulations or invite enterprises to come to work directly or setting up a working group to coordinate with relevant units of the Ministry to set up a direct inspection team at enterprises to request enterprises to comply with the sanction of administrative violations, thereby grasping the situation, progressing the implementation level, causes of delay, request enterprises to take measures to deal with problems and soon trade shares.

However, the sanctioning of administrative violations for unlisted enterprises and registered transactions is now facing many difficulties because many violating enterprises continue to report and explain problems in the process of implementing procedures related to the enterprise, and have not complied with the sanction.

According to reports and explanations of enterprises, the delay in listing shares and registering for trading mainly comes from a number of reasons such as: the post-equitization enterprise is in the process of divesting capital; enterprises operating inefficiently, at a loss, opening bankruptcy procedures, in the process of dealing with consequences of violations discovered during inspection and examination by competent authorities, unable to organize a General Meeting of Shareholders to consult on the plan for an IPO, through the audited financial statements, it was not possible to complete the procedures for listing and registering for transactions with the Stock Exchange; small-scale enterprises, in remote areas, have limited awareness of regulations on listing and registration of transactions.

Regarding the post-equitization listing, one of the solutions mentioned by the Ministry of Finance in the SOE restructuring scheme for the 2021-2025 period is that equitized enterprises strictly comply with the regulations on depository registration, trading, registering for listing on the stock market. At the same time, it will pilot a number of SOEs after equitization to register for trading and list on regional and global stock markets.

According to economist Nguyen Minh Phong, listing after equitization is a mandatory requirement, it is done on a voluntary basis, but sanctions are not clear, these are the two main reasons why there are still many unlisted enterprises.

In addition, there are many other reasons such as enterprises must make reports, require audits of debts, due to internal problems of enterprises, or because the financial problems before equitization have not been clarified.

It is necessary to have separate solutions and sanctions for each case, expert Nguyen Minh Phong said that the common point to note is the responsibility of the leader, it is necessary to have clear and drastic sanctions from the outset.

In the equitization plan, it is necessary to assign the responsibility of the head of the implementation of equitization contents, including regulations on listing after equitization.

For cases of non-compliance with regulations, administrative measures can be used (implementing the process of putting pressure on the public finances of enterprises or assigning individual responsibility to have fines for individuals who are the head of the enterprise responsible for equitization). At the same time, it is necessary to take measures to publicize and set an example of businesses that do well in listing and remind and strictly punish enterprises that hesitate to list according to regulations.