E-SIGNATURES IN BANKING SECTOR FOR CORPORATE CUSTOMERS

Most banks in Vietnam provide internet banking services to its customers via a web-based platform (the E-platform) which enables bank customers to create, authorise and dispatch instructions (E-Documents) to the bank electronically. Usually, an E-platform provides users with authentication tools including customer ID, user IDs, passwords and one-time password (the OTP) to get access to the E-platform. 

Termination of contract due to hardship circumstance

The new Civil Code 2015 allows a party to a contract to (i) request the other party to re-negotiate the contract; or otherwise (ii) request the court to decide terminating or amending the contract if the circumstance has been substantially changed. A circumstance could be invoked as substantially changed if it satisfies the following conditions:

Consumer contracts in Vietnam

“Consumer” is defined to mean “a person purchasing or using goods and services with the aim of consumption for daily needs of individuals, families or organizations. The term “person” here could mean either an individual or an organization. Therefore an organization under Vietnamese law may also be treated as a consumer. The only distinction is that a consumer uses the goods for consumption purpose. However, for a business entity which purchases various inputs during its operation in order to provide goods or services to its clients, the inputs could be treated either as “consumption purpose” or as “business purpose”. 

Implementing Decree of the new Vietnam Law on Laws

The new Decree 37/2016 implementing the Law on Laws 2015 provides some notable clarifications of the Law on Laws 2015 as follows:

  • Various types of decisions of the Prime Minister are excluded from being a law such as decision approving development strategy or a master plan or decision not satisfying the conditions of a law under the Law on Laws 2015;
  • Decree 37/2016 provides detailed drafting and formatting rules on a legal document including various sample Decrees and Circulars; and
  • Decree 37/2016 requires Vietnamese language to be used in a legal document. The Vietnamese language used in a legal document must be consistent and must not be local dialect or old-fashioned words. Vietnamese words in a legal document must be clear and should not have multiple meaning. If a word can have multiple meaning then the meaning used in the legal document must be used.