Vietnam: What is the penalty imposed on an auctioneer for earning personal profits by making use of his/her reputation according to the regulations?
Auctioneer shall be prohibited from earning personal profits by making use of his/her reputation?
According to Clause 2, Article 19 of the 2016 Law on Property Auction of Vietnam, the rights and obligations of auctioneers are as follows:
Rights and obligations of auctioneers in Vietnam
...
2. Auctioneers have the following obligations:
...
b/ To comply with the professional code of ethics of auctioneers;
...
At the same time, Article 5 of Circular No. 14/2018/TT-BTP stipulates the professional responsibilities of auctioneers as follows:
Professional responsibility
1. An auctioneer shall be prohibited from earning personal profits by making use of his/her reputation.
2. An auctioneer must show his/her dedication and responsibility for his/her assigned duties, use his/her professional knowledge and skills to ensure effectiveness and legitimacy of auctions.
3. The auctioneer undertaking an auction shall be obliged to carefully study legislative regulations and materials related to auctioned property, procedures and processes for auctioning and formulation and completion of property auctioning documentation, and conduct an auction in compliance with laws. After an auction ends, an auctioneer must hand over all required auctioning documentation for the purpose of being deposited with a property auction organizer in accordance with laws.
4. An auctioneer shall be obliged to ensure security for information in accordance with laws and agreements between auction participants, and avoid using information collected from the conduct of an auction to serve private needs.
Thus, according to regulations, the auctioneer shall be prohibited from earning personal profits by making use of his/her reputation.
Vietnam: What is the administrative penalty imposed on an auctioneer for earning personal profits by making use of his/her reputation according to the regulations? (Image from the Internet)
How much is the administrative penalty imposed on an auctioneer for earning personal profits by making use of his/her reputation?
According to the provisions of Clause 6, Article 22 of Decree No. 82/2020/ND-CP, violations against regulations on auctioneers are prescribed as follows:
Violations against regulations on auctioneers
...
6. A fine ranging from VND 25,000,000 to VND 35,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:
a) Administering the auction for an organization that is not an auction organization that it has registered to practice or an organization in which the State owns 100% of the charter capital established by the Government to deal with bad debts of credit institutions or property auction councils;
b) Earning personal profits by making use of the auctioneer’s reputation.
At the same time, Clause 9, Article 22 of Decree No. 82/2020/ND-CP stipulates as follows:
Violations against regulations on auctioneers
...
9. Remedial measures:
a) Cancel the asset auction result if the auctioned asset is a public property, for the violations specified at Points e and g, Clause 3 of this Article in case of falsifying the auction results; Points b and c Clause 5; Point a, Clause 7 of this Article in case an auction participant in a fake list, fake dossier or fake dossier is the successful bidder; Point b, Clause 7 of this Article in case of falsifying auctioned asset information or auction participation documents or asset auction results; Point d Clause 7 of this Article in case the person ineligible to participate in the auction is the successful bidder;
b) Forcing the asset auction organization to carry out procedures for requesting cancellation of auction results according to regulations in the case of asset auctions that are not public property when committing violations specified at Points e. and g Clause 3 of this Article in case of falsifying auction results; Points b and c Clause 5; Point a, Clause 7 of this Article in case an auction participant in a fake list, fake dossier or fake dossier is the successful bidder; Point b, Clause 7 of this Article in case of falsifying auctioned asset information or auction participation documents or asset auction results; Point d Clause 7 of this Article in case the person ineligible to participate in the auction is the successful bidder;
c) Proposing competent agencies, organizations or persons to consider and handle auctioneer practice certificates or auctioneer cards that have been erased or corrected to falsify the contents specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article;
d) Forcible return of illegal profits obtained from committing violations specified at Points a and b, Clause 2, Clauses 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this Article.
Thus, according to the regulations, auctioneers who abuse their names for personal gain can be administratively sanctioned up to VND 35,000,000. In addition, the auctioneer who commits violations shall be forced to return illegal profits obtained from committing violations specified in Clause 6 of this Article.
The above fine is imposed on individuals, and the fine imposed on organizations will be twice as much as that imposed on individuals.
What acts are prohibited for auctioneers in Vietnam?
According to Clause 1, Article 9 of the 2016 Law on Property Auction of Vietnam, auctioneers are prohibited to commit the following acts:
- Letting other individuals or organizations use their auction practice certificates;
- Taking advantage of their capacity as auctioneers to act for the self-seeking purpose;
- Colluding or being in cahoots with auctioned property sellers, bidders, price assessment organizations, auctioned property appraisal organizations and other individuals or organizations to falsify information about auctioned property, suppress prices, falsify auction dossiers or property auction results;
- Illegally preventing individuals and organizations from participating in auctions;
- Violating the professional code of ethics of auctioneers;
- Committing other prohibited acts prescribed by relevant laws.
LawNet