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Regulatory & Compliance

Legal advisory in Vietnam is a licensed profession regulated by the Vietnamese Bar Federation. Practising lawyers must hold a Vietnamese law degree, complete a formal Bar training programme, and pass the national Bar examination, qualifications that reflect deep grounding in the Vietnamese legal system, its civil law tradition, and its regulatory framework.

Vietnamese law draws heavily on domestic legislation, ministerial circulars, and local administrative practice that evolve continuously and are best navigated by counsel embedded in the local legal system. Compliance in Vietnam requires lawyers who read Vietnamese, understand how regulators interpret and apply the rules in practice, and are accountable to the same Bar that governs every licensed Vietnamese attorney.

For foreign companies, this means that the legal dimension of doing business in Vietnam: licensing, regulatory compliance, contractual obligations under Vietnamese law, and dispute resolution before Vietnamese institutions, is best handled by Vietnamese-qualified counsel, regardless of the international nature of the underlying transaction.

What we do

Our role is to help foreign companies understand the Vietnamese regulatory environment, identify compliance requirements, and connect with the right legal resources at the right time.

Where legal questions arise, MSC facilitates engagement with a curated network of trusted Vietnamese law firms, firms selected for their substantive expertise, their experience working with foreign clients, and their ability to communicate clearly in English without sacrificing precision in Vietnamese law.

MSC maintains working relationships with established Vietnamese law firms across key practice areas relevant to foreign business operations. These firms are:

  • Fully licensed under the Vietnamese Bar Federation

  • Experienced in cross-border matters: M&A, trade compliance, FDI structuring, dispute resolution

  • Capable communicators in English, able to advise foreign clients directly without losing legal accuracy in translation

  • Familiar with international frameworks: Including CPTPP, EVFTA, bilateral investment treaties, and international arbitration rules, while grounding all advice in Vietnamese law

Regulatory Landscape & Entry Readiness

  1. Regulatory and compliance overview for business activities in Vietnam

  2. Industry-specific licensing and administrative framework analysis

  3. Regulatory risk identification and entry readiness assessment

Trade & Market Access

  1. Overview of applicable FTAs, CPTPP, EVFTA, and preferential tariff frameworks

  2. Rules of origin and trade documentation requirements

  3. Import–export regulatory requirements for initial market access

Administrative & Entry-Related Orientation

  1. Licensing and certification framework overview

  2. Product registration and import process orientation

  3. Customs procedures and preferential tariff application overview

  4. Tax and compliance considerations relevant to business decisions

Legal Advice & Legal Action

  1. Legal advice on Vietnamese law: obligations, risks, and regulatory interpretation

  2. Legal risk mitigation at early stages of potential disputes

  3. Attorney's letters and formal legal instruments: demand letters, warning letters, evidence preservation notices, negotiation initiators

  4. Representation before Vietnamese courts and arbitration bodies

Cross-border transactions and international commercial arrangements often involve multiple legal systems simultaneously. A foreign investment structure may need to satisfy the requirements of both the investor's home jurisdiction and Vietnamese law. An international contract may be governed by foreign law while the operational and regulatory obligations it creates are subject to Vietnamese statute.

In these situations, the most effective approach is rarely to rely on a single firm, it is to ensure that each jurisdiction is covered by counsel who genuinely knows it. MSC works alongside your existing legal advisors, connecting them with Vietnamese law firms in our network so that the Vietnamese dimension of your matter is handled with the same depth and precision as the international one.

The result is coherent, dual-jurisdiction coverage, without gaps, without assumptions, and without either side guessing at what the other's legal system requires.

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