Highlights of Legal Documents Last Week (from August 20, 2023, to August 25, 2023)

1. New Points on Enterprise Registration from October 2018

On August 23, 2018, the Government of Vietnam passed Decree 108/2018/ND-CP amending and supplementing Decree 78/2015/ND-CP on enterprise registration (ER) with several notable new points as follows:

- It is not mandatory to seal the application for ER, the notice of changes in ER content, resolutions, decisions, and meeting minutes in the ER dossier;- Authorization documents for conducting ER procedures do not need notarization or certification;- ER dossiers can be submitted directly at the Business Registration Office or registered for submission via postal services;- Enterprises are allowed to register for conversion of their business type concurrently with registering changes in ER content or notifying changes in other ER content;- The business location of an enterprise is not required to be in the same province or centrally-run city where the enterprise's head office or branch is located.

Detailed information can be found in Decree 108/2018/ND-CP effective from October 10, 2018.

1. Removing Requirements for E-Commerce Websites to Notify about Sales

Circular 21/2018/TT-BCT, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on August 20, 2018, amends and abolishes certain regulations related to e-commerce websites. Specifically:

- Abolishing the regulation on notifying sales e-commerce websites as stated in Article 8 of Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT;- Abolishing the regulation on the registration of credit rating activities for e-commerce websites in Article 21 of Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT;- Amending the regulation on the subjects required to register e-commerce service-providing websites. The subjects of registration are merchants or organizations with e-commerce websites providing one or more services such as e-commerce exchanges, online promotions, and online auctions.- Replacing the term "Department of E-commerce and Information Technology" with "Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy."

For more details, see Circular 21/2018/TT-BCT effective from October 18, 2018, amending Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT and Circular 59/2015/TT-BCT.

1. Latest Updates on Administrative Procedures for Social Insurance, Health Insurance

On July 26, 2018, Vietnam Social Security signed Decision 929/QD-BHXH to announce the amended and supplemented administrative procedures related to social insurance (SI), health insurance (HI), unemployment insurance (UI), occupational accident and disease insurance (OADI); issuance of SI books, HI cards, replacing the procedures in Decision 772/QD-BHXH dated June 15, 2018.

Specifically, the procedures include:

- Registration and adjustment of compulsory SI, HI, UI, OADI contributions; issuance of SI books and HI cards;- Registration, re-registration, and adjustment of voluntary SI contributions; issuance of SI books;- Registration for HI contribution and issuance of HI cards for those participating only in HI;- Refund of overpaid contributions for voluntary SI participants, individuals with more than one SI book overlapping SI and UI contribution periods, HI participants by household, and HI participants partly supported by the state budget;- Reissuance, exchange, and adjustment of information in SI books and HI cards.

Detailed contents of the procedures can be found in Decision 929/QD-BHXH effective from July 1, 2018.

1. Some Notes on Enterprise Registration According to the New Industry System

According to the guidance in Official Dispatch 234/DKKD-NV dated August 20, 2018, from the Department of Business Registration Management, enterprise registration following Decision 27/2018/QD-TTg on the system of Vietnam's economic sectors effective from August 20, 2018, includes the following notes:

For enterprises and dependent units that have been issued Enterprise Registration Certificates (ERC) or dependent unit registration certificates before August 20, 2018:

- They will continue operating according to the business sectors and industries already registered;- They are not required to carry out procedures for updating business sectors and industries according to the new industry system.- Updating business sectors and industries according to the new industry system will only be done when the enterprise requests it, or when the enterprise notifies the addition or change of business sectors or requests for the issuance of new ERC.

For enterprise/dependent unit registration dossiers received before August 20, 2018, and not yet approved in the National Enterprise Registration Information System, the Business Registration Office will review the registered business sectors and industries declared by the enterprise:

- If the name and code of business sectors and industries declared according to Decision 10/2007/QD-TTg remain unchanged compared to the new industry system, the enterprise registration will be processed;- If the name and code of business sectors and industries declared differ from the new industry system, the Business Registration Office will guide the enterprise in amending and supplementing the registration dossier following the new industry system.

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