Investment Registration Certificates for Establishing a Branch of a Foreign Entity in Vietnam

Technically, except for branches in the banking, insurance, securities and oil and gas sectors, the Investment Law 2014 will apply to the establishment of a branch in Vietnam by a foreign entity. This is because:

  • under the Commercial Law 2005, a foreign business entity’s branch, a part of a foreign business entity in Vietnam, is established in Vietnam and conducts commercial activities in accordance with Vietnamese laws;
  • a Vietnamese branch of a foreign business is a form of economic entity as defined in Investment Law 2014; and
  • the investment procedures under Investment Law 2014 will apply to the establishment of economic entities in all sectors, excluding securities, credit institution, insurance business, and petroleum laws.
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Written by Lawyers VNLaw On In ,

COOPERATION MECHANISM IN PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR INVESTMENT AND ENTERPRISE REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN INVESTORS IN VIETNAM

Circular 2/2017 taking effect from 15 June 2017 regulates the cooperation mechanism in processing applications for investment registration and enterprise registration of foreign investors (cooperation mechanism). Under the cooperation, a foreign investor submits its applications for investment registration and enterprise registration and receives its registration certificates at applicable Department of Planning and Investment (DPI). Therefore, the procedure of investment registration and enterprise registration under the cooperation mechanism may reduce significantly the licensing workload of foreign investors compared to the original separate procedures of investment registration and enterprise registration  (separate procedure).

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Classification of non-performing loans in Vietnam

A foreign investor interested in investing in non-performing loans (NPL) in Vietnam should at first know which type of NPL exists in Vietnam. Depending on the types of the existing lenders, NPLs can be classified into:

  • NPLs held by onshore credit institutions (Bank NPL). A foreign entity may acquire and transfer Bank Loans in general. The legal framework for investing in Bank NPLs is most advanced. There are separate regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on transfer of bank loans and there has just been a special resolution of the National Assembly dealing with Bank NPLs incurred before 15 August 2017 (NPL Resolution). In theory, a Bank Loan transferred to a foreign entity could be considered as a foreign loan and be subject to foreign loan regulations. However, the SBV has indicated that a Bank NPL sold to a foreign entity is not regarded as a foreign loan;
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Decree 46/2017 - New conditions for establishing a school in Vietnam

From 21 April 2017, Decree 46/2017 introduces a new set of conditions for establishment of domestic schools from kindergarten to university levels. The new conditions replaces various legislation of the same topics. However, these conditions do not apply to  foreign-invested schools (FIE schools). In additions, schools established before 21 April 2017 need not to comply with the new and, in many cases, stricter conditions. The table below summarises the key conditions for setting a domestic school under the old regulations, setting up an FIE school under Decree 73/2012, and setting up a domestic school under Decree 46/2017.

This post is contributed by Nguyen Linh Chi, an intern at Venture North Law.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,