Ever since the stock exchange opened in the late 1990s, the procedures for private share placement in Vietnam have been divided between public companies and privately held companies. For publicly held companies the process has always been somewhat onerous in an effort to dissuade them from conducting private share placements. It has always, however, been [...]
Last week, here, I wrote about various strategies for restructuring debt. One of those--specifically for businesses--involved a court ordered restructuring as part of the bankruptcy procedures. This week I want to examine that process in more detail. Though instead of going through the entire process I'm going to highlight bits and pieces that are important [...]
Recently, we prepared a long chapter on employment law issues in Vietnam. One of the questions we addressed involved legal protections for whistleblowers--employees or individuals who reported instances, specifically, of harassment in the workplace, but also of other legal violations committed by their employer. Vietnam's employment law does not provide for whistleblower protections and, except [...]
On 17 June 2020, Vietnam's National Assembly passed a new law on investment. The new law offers some new approaches to investment--both domestic and foreign--in the country and broaches new territory for encouraging and regulating the sector. As I'm looking at M&A recently, I thought I would discuss two of the major developments in the [...]
As we have just celebrated the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review the procedures and requirements for Vietnamese investors seeking to invest overseas. This is more complicated than one might expect—particularly in light of the need to obtain FOREX to [...]
Back in mid-2000s, the idea of a stock market to raise capital in Vietnam was new and exciting. The National Assembly approved the securities law and the government set out issuing regulations for companies seeking to list. While a stock exchange had existed in Ho Chi Minh City since 2000, the securities law wasn't issued [...]
A derivative suit in Vietnam, as in most jurisdictions in which it is allowed, is a civil action brought by a shareholder of a company against a third party in the name of the company. Often this third party is a member of management.1 This is a powerful tool for minority shareholders to influence the [...]
WHY WORRY ABOUT ANTI-CORRUPTION LAWS IN VIETNAM? At certain points of my career the question of corruption became relevant. Not only was there corruption in the government as they seized assets and claimed taxes—which they had already signed off as having received—weren't paid, but there was the question of what we, as a company seeking [...]
Reunification Day in Vietnam. Forty-five years ago today the helicopter lifted from the roof of the American embassy, the tanks rolled down what became Le Duan Street, and the Vietnam War officially came to an end. For the United States this ushered in nearly half a century of recriminations, regrets, and disbelief. For Vietnam a [...]
Manager liability. It's a major issue for boards of directors and executives in companies throughout the globe. Insurance companies offer a specific product to protect against costs for such liability. In many jurisdictions, the legislatures and courts have created major obstacles to finding management liable and find that there is a preference to defend management [...]