A new competition law is scheduled to be enacted in 2018 and take effect in 2019. Currently, legislators are collecting public opinions on the second draft of this legislation, one of the hot topics currently being discussed by legal practitioners. One of the most important points to consider is that unlike the current regulations which do not clearly govern foreign entities, the draft law expressly provides that foreign entities and anti-competitive activities, including economic concentrations (ECs) which are performed outside of Vietnam but would cause a restriction of competition in Vietnam market, shall be subject to this legislation. Therefore, M&A deals between offshore entities in relation to indirect equity interests in a Vietnam-based entity will come under the oversight of the Vietnamese competition authorities.
June 28, 2017