NEWS

The new Penal Code brings the Vietnamese law more in line with international laws and introduces corporate criminal responsibility for criminal offences such as insurance fraud, tax evasion, violation of competition regulations, terrorism financing, money laundering, pollution, manufacturing of counterfeit products and corruption.

Circular 27 on self-certification of certificate of origin no longer contains the requirement of total export turnover of at least USD10 million in the preceding year to ASEAN member states. This allows SMEs, and larger companies as well, to increase export to ASEAN countries and take advantage of preferential tariff treatment of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA).

As of 1 October 2017 a work-permit can be requested on-line and as of 1 January 2018 foreigners are obliged to participate in the social insurance scheme and the amount on which the contribution is based changes, as more will fall under salary.

Decree 71 provides detailed guidelines on corporate Governance for public companies, regarding shareholders; the General Meeting of Shareholders, Board of Directors, Board of Controllers, prevention of conflict of interests, information disclosure and reporting.

Investment is a key driving force for economic growth and competitiveness as it spurs innovation, creates jobs, and connect investors to global value chains. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) provides a strong, rule-based framework through which to grow investment relations with key Asia-Pacific economies. ACSV Legal Vietnam outlines how the CPTPP benefits investors, and the terms and conditions to ensure that investment procedures will be easier and more transparent for foreign funders.

The method of determination of the relevant market and market share prescribed in Decree 35 is similar to the superseded decree. In particular, the relevant market shall be determined based on the relevant product market and relevant geographical market; and the market share of an enterprise shall be determined by calculating turnover from sales, turnover of inward purchases, or market share of a group of affiliated enterprises.

In this newsletter, you can read about the new Decree on Security for Performance of Obligations and other regulations have entered into force within June 2021. You can also read the latest news and relevant topics we have handpicked for you in Other News section.

In this special edition, you can read about the Government's Resolution 15, plans to resume business operations for HCMC, Hanoi, Binh Duong and Long An, and the lock down regulations for HCMC until the end of September.

The global coronavirus epidemic has caused massive disruption to businesses and may impact certain contractual relationships, either with clients or employees, Minh Nguyen, senior associate and head of dispute resolution practice at ACSV Legal, discusses notable changes in regulation which could directly affect daily business operations in Vietnam, and pores over certain legal issues that Vietnamese-based companies might encounter due to the pandemic.

In this new edition, you can read about the new regulation of Vietnamese tax law, a new update introduces support packages for employees and employers seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the draft decision on special investment incentives. We provide you also with some other news and regulations which we thought might be of interest. Last but not least, you can find our latest contribution to Chambers and Partners' Doing Business in Vietnam 2021 guide.

With the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement taking effect last year, the government recently circulated a draft decree on personal data protection, drafted by the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam. Proposed to be adopted in December, it will become the first unified regulation on personal data protection in Vietnam. Minh Nguyen, senior associate of ACSV Legal, gives a heads-up on certain points worth noting in the draft.

Vietnam is expected to speed up equitisation of state-owned enterprises and divestment of state capital to create a level playing field for business entities and generate funds for infrastructure. Law firm ACSV Legal's associates Phuong Huynh and Duc Tran find out how these actions may offer ample opportunity for private financiers to invest in some of Vietnam's leading market players in 2020.