WTO And TPP – A Comparison of Vietnam’s Commitments Regarding Investment In Financial Services

The table below tries to compare the existing commitments of Vietnam under WTO Agreement with the commitments under TPP for financial services. This post is contributed by Tran Thi Thu Thao, a VILAF associate. Pdf version of the table can be downloaded here.

Notes:

  • No limitation means no limits on national treatments in terms of foreign ownership, form of investment or other restriction.
  • Branch is generally not allowed unless otherwise indicated.
  • Share acquisition is generally allowed with no foreign ownership limitation for committed sectors and sub-sectors unless otherwise indicated.
  • Underlined words indicate new commitment under TPP. 

 

Evidence of completion no longer required for registration of a capital transfer

Parties to (i) a transfer of capital in a limited liability company (LLC) or (ii) a transfer of shares by founding shareholder or foreign shareholder in a joint stock company (JSC) no longer need to submit “documents evidencing completion of the transfer” to the Business Registration Authority when applying for registration of the transfer. This is an important and positive change introduced by Decree 78/2015 on business registration which will take effect from 1 November 2015. In particular, Decree 78/2015 allows the parties to any of the above transfers to submit (i) the transfer contract or (ii) documents evidencing completion of the transfer.

Anti-sandbagging in M&A transactions in Vietnam

“Sandbagging” in M&A context occurs when a party, usually the buyer, seeks to recover for a breach of warranty, the inaccuracy of which it had knowledge before the closing of the transaction. Although sandbagging is not a new concept, it is an issue that continues to elicit intense negotiation from both buyers and sellers. And when the contract fails to address the sandbagging issue, the law governing the agreement will have a significant impact on a buyer’s right to recover for a breach of warranty claim.