Conditions for conversion from physical documents into electronic in financial operations documents in Vietnam

Conditions for conversion from physical documents into electronic in financial operations documents in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet responded as follows:

1. What are electronic document?

According to Clause 3, Article 3 of Decree 165/2018/ND-CP, electronic document in financial operations (hereinafter referred to as “electronic document”) means the information, which is created, sent, received and stored by electronic means upon carrying out electronic financial transactions, including:

Documents, reports, contracts, agreements, transaction information, information serving administrative procedures and other types of information and data prescribed by law.

2. Conditions for conversion from physical documents into electronic documents in Vietnam

According to  Clause 2, Article 6 of Decree 165/2018/ND-CP, the electronic document converted from a physical document must satisfy the following conditions:

- It must specify all contents of the physical document;

- Individual or organization that organizes (or takes responsibility for) the conversion of a physical document into an electronic document shall append his/her/its digital signature to the electronic document after it is converted from the physical document or authenticated using one of the methods specified in Point b Clause 2 Article 5 of Decree 165/2018/ND-CP:

The information system provides a method of ensuring integrity of the electronic document in the sending, receiving and storage process; records that an organization or individual has generated an electronic document and relevant responsible organization or individual has engaged in processing the electronic document, and adopts one of the following methods to:

Authenticate whether the organization or individual generates the electronic document and relevant responsible organization or individual engages in processing the electronic document: digital certificate-based authentication, biometric authentication, authentication using two factors or more, including one-time authentication code or random authentication code.

3. Conditions for conversion from electronic documents into physical documents in Vietnam

According to Clause 3, Article 7 of Decree 165/2018/ND-CP, the physical document converted from an electronic document must satisfy the following conditions:

- It sufficiently and accurately specifies contents of the electronic document;

- There is information showing that the document has been processed on the information system and showing name of the information system or name of the information system administrator;

- An identification code for the electronic document is available to serve the retrieval or verification of information or full name and signature of the person carrying out the conversion are available;

- There must be seal of the organization carrying out the conversion in the cases where the conversion is required to be carried out under regulations of law or agreement between parties.

- Information is retrieved at any time during the normal operation of the information system.

4. Validity of electronic documents in Vietnam

According to Article 5 of Decree 165/2018/ND-CP, the calidity of electronic documents is as follows:

- Electronic documents must satisfy all requirements for state management and conform to regulations of specialized law. Format, generation, sending and receipt of electronic documents and validity thereof shall comply with the Law on E-Transactions.

- An electronic document shall be considered an original if one of the following methods is adopted:

= The electronic document is digitally signed by an electronic document originator and relevant responsible organization or individual as prescribed by specialized law.

= The information system provides a method of ensuring integrity of the electronic document in the sending, receiving and storage process; records that an organization or individual has generated an electronic document and relevant responsible organization or individual has engaged in processing the electronic document, and adopts one of the following methods to:

Authenticate whether the organization or individual generates the electronic document and relevant responsible organization or individual engages in processing the electronic document: digital certificate-based authentication, biometric authentication, authentication using two factors or more, including one-time authentication code or random authentication code.

= Other methods agreed upon by parties, ensuring the integrity of data, authenticity and non-repudiation in accordance with regulations of the Law on E-Transactions.

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