Guidelines for handling public property in cases of merger, consolidation, division, or dissolution in Vietnam from October 30, 2024

Guidelines for handling public property in cases of merger, consolidation, division, or dissolution from October 30, 2024​ (Image from the Internet)

On September 15, 2024, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree 114/2024/ND-CP amending Decree 151/2017/ND-CP guiding the Law on Management and Use of public property 2017.

Guidelines for handling public property in cases of merger, consolidation, division, or dissolution in Vietnam from October 30, 2024

According to the provisions of Article 35b Decree 151/2017/ND-CP (amending Clause 27 Article 1 Decree 114/2024/ND-CP), the handling of public property in cases of merger, consolidation, division, or dissolution in Vietnam is carried out as follows:

- State agencies involved in a merger, consolidation, division, or dissolution are responsible for conducting inventories and categorizing assets under their management and use; they are also accountable for handling any excess/shortfall of assets identified during the inventory as per legal regulations. For assets not owned by the agency (assets held in custody, borrowed assets, leased assets of other organizations or individuals, etc.), the state agency shall handle them according to relevant legal provisions.

- In the case of a merger or consolidation, the new legal entity after the merger or consolidation shall inherit the rights to manage and use the assets of the merged or consolidated agency. After completing the merger or consolidation, the new legal entity is responsible for arranging the use of assets according to the standards and quotas for public property usage issued by the authority; for excess assets or those that need to be handled as per the Law on Management and Use of public property 2017 and Decree 151/2017/ND-CP (amended by Decree 114/2024/ND-CP), the new legal entity is responsible for preparing documentation and reporting to the competent authority for review and decision on handling these assets.

For assets that have already received handling decisions from the competent authority before the merger or consolidation but remain unsettled at the time of the merger or consolidation, the new legal entity shall continue to handle the outstanding issues.

- In the case of division, the state agency undergoing the division is responsible for drafting a plan for asset distribution and assigning the handling responsibilities for ongoing asset issues to the new legal entities after the division, reporting to the competent authority for approval at the time of issuing the division decision.

After completing the division, the new legal entities are responsible for arranging the use of assets according to the standards and quotas for public asset usage issued by the authority and completing the handling of ongoing asset issues according to their assigned responsibilities; for excess assets or those that need to be handled as per the Law on Management and Use of public property 2017 and Decree 151/2017/ND-CP (amended by Decree 114/2024/ND-CP), the new legal entities must prepare documentation and report to the competent authority for review and decision on handling these assets.

- In the case of dissolution, after receiving the dissolution decision from the competent authority, the dissolving state agency is responsible for handing over assets to the superior managing agency. The superior managing agency is responsible for preparing documentation and reporting to the competent authority for review and decision on handling these assets according to the regulations of the Law on Management and Use of public property 2017 and Decree 151/2017/ND-CP (amended by Decree 114/2024/ND-CP).

For assets that have already received handling decisions from the competent authority before the dissolution but remain unsettled at the time of dissolution, the superior managing agency shall continue to handle the outstanding issues.

More details can be found in Decree 114/2024/ND-CP, which takes effect in Vietnam on October 30, 2024.

Articles 96, 97, 98, and 99 of Decree 151/2017/ND-CP will be annulled effective January 1, 2025.

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