The authorities are trying to establish whether in the early weeks of this year the share price was artificially driven down. Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited fund is one of the biggest in Vietnam, with a net asset value of $1.7 billion and significant holdings in major domestic banks and real estate companies. (Reporting by Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; editing by Jason Neely and Tomasz Janowski)
(Adds Dragon Capital comment, detail)
HANOI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Vietnam's police are
investigating transactions made by foreign investors concerning
listed domestic lender Eximbank in the first weeks of
this year as they suspect its share value was manipulated,
according to documents and sources.
The investigation, which is preliminary and may not
ascertain any wrongdoing, comes amid an anti-corruption
crackdown that led to the resignation in January of Vietnam's
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
According to one of two internal documents reviewed by
Reuters, the police are seeking information by Feb. 20 from Viet
Capital Securities, a broker, about transactions concerning
Eximbank shares made by Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited,
a fund controlled by Dragon Capital , which is the
biggest foreign investor in Vietnam's stock market.
A second document, dated Feb. 9, asked a second broker to
provide information about another two funds managed by Dragon
Capital.
Dragon Capital, an asset manager focused on Vietnam and
Southeast Asia, said that it was aware its brokers have been
contacted by the authorities and that it supported the probe,
stressing that it was not under investigation.
"We have not ourselves been contacted by the SSC (State
Securities Commission) nor any other authority, nor is there any
suggestion whatever that we are under investigation," it said in
a statement. "We will fully support any investigation if asked."
Two people familiar with the probe said that similar
documents had been sent to a few more brokers about other
transactions concerning Eximbank.
Eximbank's shares have dropped 18% since the start of the
year.
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