Validity of a contract denominated in US$ and settled in VND

According to newspaper report, in June 2015, a district court in Hanoi has just held that an apartment sale and purchase contract the price of which is denominated in USD but settled in VND is not invalid. Instead, the price of such contract will be converted into VND at the exchange rate of the signing date of such contract. This is just a first instance judgment which can be changed or cancelled by higher courts. However, this decision has helped to clarify the long-term uncertainty about the validity of a contract denominated in US$ but settled in VND.

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Investment Law 2014 – Security deposit for implementation of investment projects

Under the Investment Law 2014, the investors of an investment project whose land is leased, allocated or adjusted by the Government must make a security deposit to ensure that the project will be implemented in accordance with registered investment schedule. The amount of deposit is from 1% to 3% of the total investment capital. It is certain that the security deposit requirement will apply to investment projects licensed on or after 1 July 2015. However, it is not certain if this requirement will apply to investment projects licensed before 1 July 2015 since there is no security deposit requirement under the Investment Law 2005.

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Investment Law 2014 – Some unexpected consequences from acquisition registration requirements

The Investment Law 2014 introduces entirely new procedures “acquisition registration” for investment by foreign investors in the form of capital contribution or acquisition of equity interests in existing companies in Vietnam. However, due to its novelty, the new procedures may raise various unexpected consequences:

Investment Law 2014 – Selecting foreign arbitration in transactions with foreign invested enterprises in Vietnam

The Investment Law 2014 introduces major changes to the ability to choose foreign arbitration as the dispute resolution forum for transactions involving a foreign-invested enterprise in Vietnam. In particular, from 1 July 2015, only transactions with a foreign-invested enterprise (or more correctly a foreign economic organisation) 51% or more of which is directly or indirectly owned by foreign investors could be referred to foreign arbitration for dispute settlement. Under the Investment Law 2005, transactions with any company with any level of foreign ownership (not necessarily more than 51%) could be referred to foreign arbitration for dispute settlement.

Vietnam Business Law