Business Law
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Branch or Business Location? Choosing the Right Structure for Your Operations in Vietnam
- 01 July 2025
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- by Katherine Tran
Expanding into Vietnam presents exciting opportunities for both domestic and foreign businesses. One of the first structural decisions companies face is whether to establish a branch or a business location. While both serve as extensions of the parent company, they differ significantly in legal authority, operational flexibility, and compliance obligations. This guide provides a practical comparison between the two options under Vietnamese law, including a side-by-side table and legal considerations to help you select the structure...
Protecting Business Interests Through Non-Compete Agreements
- 15 May 2025
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- by Hannah Huynh
How can businesses in Vietnam protect their trade secrets and client relationships when employees move on? Non-compete agreements are a valuable tool, but they must be carefully crafted to withstand legal scrutiny. Hannah Huynh breaks down: What non-compete agreements are designed to protect How Vietnamese law treats non-compete clauses Practical strategies to improve enforceability Common pitfalls businesses must avoid In Vietnam, protecting your competitive edge starts with a fair, balanced, and legally sound agreement.
Corporate Insolvency in Vietnam: Legal Framework and Business Implications
- 24 March 2025
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- by Stephen Le
Facing mounting debts and a struggling balance sheet can put any business on the brink of collapse and without a clear understanding of the legal landscape, companies risk worsening their financial exposure. In Vietnam, navigating corporate insolvency is not only a matter of compliance, but a critical factor in determining whether a company restructures or is forced into liquidation. This article provides essential insights into Vietnam’s insolvency laws, the formal steps involved in insolvency proceedings, and...
Decoding Crime In Vietnam: Key Legal Insights
- 12 December 2024
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- by Stephen Le
Curious about the pillars of Vietnam’s criminal justice system? In this guide, Lê Hoàng Chương (Stephen) unpacks the defining elements of the Penal Code, from the concept of crime to the burden of proof. Explore how statutes of limitations, presumption of innocence, and core principles are shaping a fair and globally aligned legal framework.
Law on Anti-bribery & Anti-corruption
- 28 January 2022
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- by Hannah Huynh
Bribery What is bribery? Bribery usually refers to a situation where a person or organization gives benefits to a person holding State power to influence that person (e.g. making that person abuse the State power to bring benefits for the bribe giver). Under the law, both the act of giving bribe and receiving bribe are prohibited. Bribery, sometimes, can be very straightforward, e.g. Company A gives money to State officer B so that officer B can...
Lawyer Ethics & Professionalism in Vietnam
- 02 December 2021
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- by Stephen Le
A Lawyer is a professional whose services are valued, not only for their competence and capacity, but also in regard to their trust and prestige. Therefore, in addition to proficiency in the law, Lawyers must obey ethical standards while protecting the legitimate rights and interests of their clients in order to deserve the confidence and esteem of society. This is the reason that most countries in the world have a separate system of rules governing the...
Ho Chi Minh City Eases Social Distancing in “New Normal” Starting From September 30, 2021
- 04 October 2021
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- by Corporate Counsels Team
On September 30, 2021, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City announced plans to recover and develop the economy after a long period of paralysis due to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, Directive No. 18/CT-UBND (the Directive) was issued at the same date to gradually lift social distancing corresponding to the circumstances relating to Covid-19 and the safety assessment results of the Ministry of Health. The Directive has been applied from 6pm September...
Covid-19 Update: Operation Criteria for Businesses in the New-normal Period
- 22 September 2021
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- by Corporate Counsels Team
On September 15, 2021, the Head of Ho Chi Minh City’s Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control issued Decision 3328/QD-BCD (Decision) on the Set of Criteria for the prevention and control of Covid-19 at the workplace in Ho Chi Minh city (Set of Criteria). This Set of Criteria sets out standards and conditions for businesses to self-assess and implement to reopen after a long period of the Covid-19 shutdown. Groups of businesses subject to this...
Ho Chi Minh City Plans for the ‘New Normal’ after September 15, 2021
- 12 September 2021
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- by Corporate Counsels Team
Up to October 9, 2021, Vietnam has approved the Hayat-Vax vaccine for emergency use, besides AstraZeneca, Sputnik V (Gam-Covid-Vac), Vero Cell (Sinopharm), Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty), Moderna (Spikevax), and Janssen. At the moment, the Government is still facilitating the vaccination campaigns for people to get the first Covid-19 vaccine shot and continue the second shot in time. With the severe impact of the fourth Covid-19 wave, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City applied the lockdown regulation...
Financial Requirements for Real Estate Business in Vietnam
- 18 August 2021
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- by Corporate Counsels Team
In Vietnam, all land is collectively owned and is the property of all the people of Vietnam. Therefore, no individual or organization in Vietnam is permitted to ‘own’ land and there exists only ‘land use rights’ with respect to real property. Nevertheless, despite the fact that real estate is a highly regulated sector, the Vietnamese real property market has been an attractive and vigorous sector for investment in recent years. This executive brief aims to provide...
Allowable Methods of Employment Termination
- 17 August 2021
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- by Trang Le
Vietnamese labor legislation is generally considered to be ‘pro-employee’. As such, it is imperative that companies prepare and devise a termination plan in compliance with the laws to avoid any potential disputes at Court. This plan should be prepared and standardized prior to the termination of the employment relationship. This executive brief is to provide corporate leaders with an overview of the acceptable methods of employment termination to assist in finding optimal solutions that match the...
Ho Chi Minh City to Extend Lockdown for further One Month, till September 15, 2021
- 16 August 2021
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- by Corporate Counsels Team
With the severe impact of the fourth Covid-19 wave, on August 15, 2021, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City issued Official Letter No. 2718/UBND-VX to extend the lockdown period till the end of September 15, 2021. Consequently, Ho Chi Minh City will continue the social distancing regulations in accordance with Directive 16/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister. Notable regulations applied for this one-month period are provided as follows. Specific schedule for people’s movements during the...
