PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - May 22

HANOI, May 22 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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FINANCIAL NEWS:

QUAN DOI NHAN DAN

-- Many commercial banks have raised the interest rates on Vietnamese dong deposits to 15 percent per year this week, from less than 12 percent last week, following the central bank's removal of the ceiling rate on dong deposits.

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LAO DONG

-- A Vietnamese investor has been fined with 100 million dong ($6,235) for rigging stock prices, the State Securities Commission said. The man placed 107 sell orders of Sacombank STB.HM shares within three days in February with lowering prices, accounting for 13.32 percent of the market's sell orders that was influenced on the market index.

-- Foreign investors were key players on Vietnam's main exchange .VNI on Wednesday's trading session, buying 1.6 million shares worth 76.8 billion dong ($4.8 million), accounting for 68 percent of the market's trading value.