On November 12, answering questions before the National Assembly, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang assessed that the consequences of fake news and false news are unpredictable, causing many serious consequences, posing a threat to the socio-economy, and even threatening national sovereignty and global security.

In fact, many businesses have lost thousands of billions in capitalization after just one rumor on social networks.

In mid-October, a petition appeared on social media, allegedly from Eximbank's Board of Supervisors, sent to authorities regarding the bank's unsafe lending practices, leading to "the risk of system collapse."

This has partly directly affected investor sentiment, especially the group of investors holding EIB shares of Eximbank. At the end of the session on October 14, nearly 42.7 million EIB shares were traded, worth nearly VND780 billion, with foreign investors net selling more than 5.3 million units, equivalent to VND97 billion.

At the same time, EIB also became the stock with the strongest negotiated transaction of the session with a value of VND 1,050 billion, accounting for nearly 36% of the total negotiated transaction value on HOSE. Notably, this is the highest liquidity level of EIB in nearly 2 years, since the session of November 17, 2022.

GELEX – a shareholder owning 10% of Eximbank’s charter capital is also “in trouble” because of rumors. Since EIB announced information about shareholders owning more than 1% according to the Law on Credit Institutions, rumors about GELEX and GELEX leaders have been continuously spread on social networks or stock investment groups, causing confusion.

On November 14, GELEX’s GEX stock price fell by VND800, equivalent to a 4.21% decrease, with a trading volume of more than 12 million shares. This was also the sharpest decline since GELEX acquired 10% of EIB’s charter capital and was also the day that a series of unverified rumors about GELEX and its leaders were recorded.

Gelex speaks out about false information spreading on social networks 38359.jpg
GELEX is caught up in false rumors, causing economic damage. Photo: GELEX.

From August 9, when GELEX bought more than 89 million EIB shares, GEX closed at VND21,450. By November 14, GEX's market price was VND18,200, equivalent to a decrease of 17.8%. It is estimated that the capitalization of this enterprise has decreased by more than VND2.6 trillion.

A seasoned investor said: “Shareholders of both EIB and GEX are very confused. Although they know that negative information can come from within the bank during the period of changes in development orientation, even though both EIB and GEX have issued reassuring statements, investors are still hesitant.”

Previously, in the session of August 8, 2024, shares of Hoang Huy Financial Services Investment JSC (Code TCH-HOSE) were also sold off at a price of VND 16,600/share. The capitalization of this company "evaporated" about VND 1,000 billion. This is believed to be related to "rumors" in groups about the company being investigated by the Securities Commission for transactions in the period 2021-2022.

Another company, Vingroup, was also a “victim” of rumors a few years ago. Given the scale and influence of this company, on July 11, 2022, the stock market was shaken by rumors related to the group’s Chairman. On all stock forums, false rumors about this businessman appeared frequently and widely.

The three company stocks immediately plummeted right from the opening of the session; the market prices of these stocks fell 3-5% compared to the previous session, with some stocks at times falling close to the floor price. At that time alone, the market capitalization of these three stocks lost tens of thousands of billions of VND.

When caught up in the rumors, many businesses spoke up to reassure investors, but the sluggish recovery of many stock codes shows that investors' confidence in the business brand has been seriously damaged.

"There is fake information causing losses of trillions of dong in capitalization on the stock market," said General Luong Tam Quang.

Regarding legal responsibility for those who spread fake news and false information, Decree 15 of the Government currently stipulates a fine of 5-10 million, which is considered not enough of a deterrent.

Returning to the example of Vingroup, at the time of the rumor about the leader, in just one trading session, according to Forbes statistics, Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong's assets decreased by nearly 300 million USD, while the individual who spread the rumor was only fined 7.5 million VND.

Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang said that there is information that causes capital losses of thousands of billions of VND in the stock market, but regulations still lack quantitative measures to handle administrative violations or prosecute criminal liability for acts of spreading fake news or false information online.

"The Ministry of Public Security recommends that we do not need to consider the consequences of these acts so that we can impose punishments that are sufficiently deterrent," said Senior General Luong Tam Quang.

Faced with the situation of rumors and fake news affecting businesses, the State Securities Commission has repeatedly recommended that investors need to look at, analyze and comprehensively evaluate macroeconomic factors, business production activities of businesses, as well as receive official information from businesses, especially being cautious with false and unverified rumors that affect investment decisions.