Wholesale/retail concepts under the commercial law of Vietnam

Decree 9/2018 introduces a new approach regarding trading activities of foreign invested enterprises (FIE) in Vietnam. In particular, wholesale of most goods is not subject to the requirement of Trading License (Giấy Phép Kinh Doanh). However, Decree 9/2018 is still uncertain on the category of wholesale versus retail activities. A clearer definition of these concepts is important because an FIE conducting retail activities must apply for a Trading License with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT).

Under Decree 9/2018,

“wholesale” means the activities of selling goods to (a) wholesalers, (b) retailers, and (c) other traders, organizations; exclusive of retail activities;
“retail” means the activities of selling goods to (a) individuals, (b) households, and (c) other organizations for consumption purposes.

There are some issues arising from the above definitions under Decree 9/2018:

Voting authorisation by a Board director in a Vietnamese joint stock company

The Enterprise Law 2014 provides that in a meeting of the Board of a joint stock company (JSC), a Board director may authorise another person to attend if such authorisation is approved by the majority of members of the Board. However, the Enterprise Law 2014 is silent about the ability of a Board member to authorise another person to vote for such Board member if the Board decides to pass its decision by way of collecting written opinion of Board members.

Issues in selecting arbitration to settle construction disputes in Vietnam

Under the Law on Construction 2014, a dispute relating to a construction contract can be resolved through mediation, by a commercial arbitration or court “in accordance with law”. This standard wording seems to allow parties to a construction dispute in Vietnam to select arbitration to settle the dispute. However, Circular 26/2016 of the Ministry of Construction provides that a dispute relating to quality of a construction work will be resolved in the following steps:

Regulations on digital wallets in Vietnam

Digital wallets are an important tool for the development of e-commerce and fintech industries. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued certain regulations on digitial wallets. However, these regulations seem to be inadequate.

Under Decree 101/2012, a digital wallet is regarded as a payment intermediary service (dịch vụ trung gian thanh toán) whereby the wallet user is issued a digital account associated with an electronic media (e.g., a mobile phone) and containing a monetary value. The monetary value in a digital wallet is secured by monies transferred from the user’s bank account to the wallet service provider’s account. User can only inject and withdraw cash from a digital wallet through the user’s account. Monies in the wallet service provider’s account can only be used to pay for goods or service providers or to return to the wallet user. The Law on Anti-money Laundering 2012 requires a digital wallet service provider as a financial institution with new technology to meet face-to-face with its clients when the clients first make a transaction with the service provider.

In light of the above regulations,

An user without a bank account cannot have a digital wallet in Vietnam. This could hinder the growth of digital wallet.
Direct money transfers between two digital wallets are not permitted. In practice, the SBV is allowing certain digital wallets to conduct direct monies transfer on a pilot basis.
An user cannot withdraw cash or inject cash directly to his/her digital wallet. This must be done via a bank account.
Monies in a digital wallet may not be used as security for lending.
A digital wallet provider is required to meet face to face with its customer whenever a wallet is issued.

5 September 2018 - Update to reflect the requirements under Anti-money laundering regulations.

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Vietnam Business Law