Newest guidelines for naming cooperatives and cooperative unions in Vietnam

Newest guidelines for naming cooperatives and cooperative unions in Vietnam (Image from Internet)

1. What are cooperatives and cooperative unions under the law in Vietnam?

According to Clauses 7 and 8, Article 4 of the Cooperative Law 2023, cooperatives and cooperative unions are defined as follows:

- A cooperative is a legal entity established by at least 05 official members who voluntarily collaborate to support each other in production, business, and job creation to meet the common economic, cultural, and social needs of its members, thereby contributing to the sustainable development of the social community; it practices autonomous management, self-responsibility, equality, and democracy.

- A cooperative union is a legal entity established voluntarily by at least 03 cooperatives which are official members, collaborating to support each other in production, business, and job creation to expand production and business scale, enhance market participation capacity, and contribute to the sustainable development of the social community; it practices autonomous management, self-responsibility, equality, and democracy.

2. Newest guidelines for naming cooperatives and cooperative unions in Vietnam

The naming of cooperatives and cooperative unions in Vietnam is regulated in Article 15 of Decree 92/2024/ND-CP as follows:

- A cooperative or cooperative union cannot register a name that is identical or confusingly similar to the name of another cooperative or cooperative union already registered in the nationwide Cooperative Registration Database, except for cooperatives or cooperative unions that have been dissolved or have a court ruling declaring bankruptcy.

- The district-level business registration agency has the authority to approve or reject the proposed name registration of a cooperative or cooperative union according to legal regulations, and the decision of the district-level business registration agency is final. If a cooperative or cooperative union disagrees with the decision of the district-level business registration agency, it may sue according to administrative litigation regulations.

- Encouragement and facilitation are provided for cooperatives and cooperative unions with identical or confusingly similar names to negotiate among themselves to register for a name change.

- The name of a cooperative or cooperative union must be written or affixed at its main office, branches, representative offices, and business locations; it must be printed or written on transaction documents, dossiers, materials, and publications issued by the cooperative or cooperative union.

- In the case of a foreign language name, the foreign language name of the cooperative or cooperative union must be printed or written in a smaller font size than the Vietnamese name of the cooperative or cooperative union.

3. Regulations on the names of branches, representative offices, and business locations of cooperatives and cooperative unions in Vietnam

According to Article 16 of Decree 92/2024/ND-CP, the names of branches, representative offices, and business locations of cooperatives and cooperative unions are specifically regulated as follows:

- The distinct part of the name of a branch, representative office, or business location of a cooperative or cooperative union shall be written using letters from the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters F, J, Z, W, numerals, and symbols.

- Besides the Vietnamese name, branches, representative offices, or business locations of cooperatives or cooperative unions can register foreign language and abbreviated names. The foreign language name must be translated from the Vietnamese name into a foreign language using the Latin alphabet. The abbreviation is derived from the Vietnamese or foreign language name.

- The name of a branch, representative office, or business location must be written or affixed at its headquarters, representative office, and business location.

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