Notable new policies of Vietnam to be effective as of the start of November 2024

1. Vietnam’s policy on support for expansion of operationally effective models of cooperatives and cooperative unions 

This is a content of Decree No. 113/2024/ND-CP on guidelines on the Law on Cooperatives, effective as of November 1, 2024.

(i) Beneficiaries: 

- Cooperatives and cooperative unions with effective operations according to the criteria approved by competent authorities; 

- Artels, cooperatives, and cooperative unions that wish to learn the experiences of operationally effective models of cooperatives and cooperative unions. 

(ii) Contents: 

- Prioritization of support for consolidating and completing operationally effective cooperatives and cooperative unions; 

- Contents of support for cooperatives and cooperative unions that wish to learn the experiences of effective models: organization of conferences and seminars on experience dissemination; visits, surveys; counseling and development of plans for trading and manufacturing. 

(iii) State budget funding: 

- The state budget shall provide up to 100% of the funding for the implementation of the policies prescribed in this Article; 

- Ministries, central authorities, and People’s Councils at all levels shall assess and decide the specific funding for each policy or request competent authorities to carry out such assessment and decision in conformity with the priority orientation, the capacity for balancing resources in each period, and the law. 

2. Vietnam’s regulation on purchase of shares by foreign institutional investors exempted from minimum fund requirements

This is a content of Circular No. 68/2024/TT-BTC on amendments to Circular No. 120/2020/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2020 of the Minister of Finance of Vietnam providing guidelines on the trading of listed and registered shares, fund certificates, corporate bonds and covered warrants listed on securities trading system. To be specific: 

(1) Securities company shall assess settlement risk of each foreign institutional investor to determine the minimum amount of funds that the foreign institutional investor is required to have when placing share purchase orders (if any) under an agreement between the securities company and that foreign institutional investor or its authorized representative.

(2)  In case a foreign institutional investor fails to make full payment for its purchased shares, the payment obligations which are not yet fulfilled by the foreign institutional investor shall be transferred to the securities company where the foreign institutional investor’s order is placed via its proprietary trading account, except the cases prescribed in (5). 

(3) The securities company is entitled to transfer the ownership of shares transferred to its proprietary trading account outside the securities trading system as prescribed in Point q1 Clause 2 Article 6 of Circular No. 119/2020/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2020 of the Minister of Finance of Vietnam prescribing registration, depositing, clearing and settlement of securities transactions, or sell such shares on the securities trading system adopting the put-through method to the foreign institutional investor that failed to make full payment for its purchased shares as prescribed in (2) by the end of the trading day following the day on which such shares are transferred to the proprietary trading account of the securities company, provided that the prescribed maximum limit on foreign investor’s holding of shares of that type shall not be exceeded. Financial gains, losses and other expenses arising from the transactions prescribed in (2) and (3) shall be settled under the agreement between the securities company and the foreign institutional investor or its authorized representative.

(4) Apart from the transactions prescribed in (3), the securities company shall sell the number of shares transferred to its proprietary trading account on the securities trading system. Financial gains, losses and other expenses arising from the transactions prescribed in (2) and (4) shall be settled under the agreement between the securities company and the foreign institutional investor or its authorized representative.

(5) The custodian bank where the foreign institutional investor’s securities depository account is opened shall assume responsibility to make payment for the transaction for which the foreign institutional investor does not have sufficient funds to pay and relevant costs (if any) in the event that it has provided an inaccurate confirmation of the foreign institutional investor’s deposit balance for the securities company resulting in failure to have sufficient funds for paying for the share purchase transaction.

3. Vietnam’s standards and conditions for grade promotion applicable to public employees specializing in registration of security interests  

This is a content of Circular No. 11/2024/TT-BTP on standards and conditions for the promotion of professional titles concerning security interest registration promulgated by the Minister of Justice of Vietnam, effective as of November 8, 2024. To be specific: 

- Meeting standards of occupational ethics and standards of training and advanced training qualifications prescribed in Article 3 and Article 4 of Circular No. 10/2024/TT-BTP dated September 24, 2024 of the Minister of Justice of Vietnam on professional codes and standards of titles of security interest registration. 

- Meeting the standards and conditions prescribed in the regulations of the Registration Center regarding participation in the promotion assessment period in case the number of public employees at the Registration Center meeting the professional standards exceeds the prescribed number of the public employee structure by professional titles prescribed in the scheme for job positions of the Registration Center approved by competent authorities and in cases where the assessment is based on the needs of the Registration Center. 

- Meeting other general standards and conditions according to relevant public employee recruitment, use, and management laws. 

4. General standards and conditions for attending assessment for promotion of professional titles of public employees specializing in information and communications in Vietnam  

Circular No. 12/2024/TT-BTTTT on standards and conditions for promotion of professional titles of public employees specializing in information and communications promulgated by the Minister of Information and Communications of Vietnam, effective as of November 7, 2024. 

According to the Circular, the general standards and conditions for attending assessment for promotion of professional titles of public employees specializing in information and communications are as follows: 

- Meeting the standards and conditions prescribed in Clause 1 Article 32 of Decree No. 115/2020/ND-CP dated September 25, 2020 of the Government of Vietnam on the recruitment, use, and management of public employees, amended by Clause 16 Article 1 of Decree No. 85/2023/ND-CP dated December 7, 2023. 

- The list of the job positions of the public service provider submitted for participation in the promotion assessment approved by the competent authority under the law contains the job position corresponding to the grade of the professional title of the public employee attending the promotion assessment. 

- Being appointed by competent authorities to attend the promotion assessment under regulation. 

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