Further Discussions On The New Provisions On Beneficial Owners

In this post, we continue to discuss certain aspects of the new provisions on beneficial owners (BOs or commonly called as “UBOs”) under the new amendments to the Enterprise Law 2020 passed in June 2025 (2025 Enterprise Law Amendment) and the new Decree 168/2025 on enterprise registration. We have discussed some of the issues in our earlier post.

UBOs with joint controls

Under the 2025 Enterprise Law Amendment and Decree 168/2025, the criteria to determine whether an individual is an UBO seem to apply to a single individual only. As such, it is not clear if the information about related persons of such individual (e.g., his/her relatives) should be taken into account when determining an UBO. For example, it is not clear if an individual together with his/her spouse hold more than 25% voting rights of an enterprise should be declared as an UBO. A literal reading of Decree 168/2025 suggests that declaration of UBOs is not required in case of joint control. However, such an approach is likely not consistent with the purpose of the provisions on UBOs.

Key Changes to the Enterprise Law 2020

The law amending the Enterprise Law 2020 (Amended Enterprise Law 2020), effective 1 July 2025, introduces the following key changes:

1.         The New Beneficial Owner Regime

1.1.      The Amended Enterprise Law 2020's most significant change is the introduction of a Beneficial Owner (BO) regime, designed to enhance transparency and align Vietnam with international anti-money laundering standards.

Who are BOs?

1.2.      The Amended Enterprise Law 2020 defines a BO as the individual who ultimately owns or controls an enterprise. The recently issued Decree 168/2025 on enterprise registration (Decree 168/2025) further clarifies the specific criteria for identifying a BO. In particular, an individual is considered a BO if they meet one of the following conditions:

The concept of indirect subsidiaries of a parent company under the Enterprise Law 2020

It is unclear whether indirect ownership or control is taken into account when determining a company is the parent company of another company. Under Article 195.1 of the Enterprise Law 2020, a company will be deemed to be a parent company of another company in one of the following circumstances:

  • the former owns more than 50% of the charter capital or the total number of ordinary shares of the latter;

  • the former has the right to directly or indirectly appoint “the majority or all directors of the Board, Director or the General Director” of the latter; or

  • the former has the right to amend the charter of the latter.

The above definition makes it unclear because indirect control is only clearly mentioned in the case of appointing Board directors and Director (General Director) (i.e. the second limb).

How Agreements On ROFO, ROFR, Tag Along And Drag Along Could Work In A Multiple Member Limited Liability Company In Vietnam?

In a shareholder agreement (or joint venture agreement) between members of a multiple member limited liability companies (Multiple LLC), the members often agree on various transfer restrictions such as right of first offer (ROFO), right of first refusal (ROFR), tag along or drag along rights. These transfers are intended for the parties to control the ownership structure of the Multiple LLC and their exit from the Multiple LLC. However, implementing such agreements on transfer restriction may be inconsistent with the statutory transfer restrictions provided in Article 52 of the Enterprise Law 2020. Therefore, a shareholder agreement relating to a Multiple LLC should have specific provision to resolve such inconsistencies.

The table below sets out the potential inconsistencies between agreements on ROFO, ROFR, Tag Along and Drag Along and the transfer procedures under Article 52 of the Enterprise Law 2020.