Foreign arbitration organizations are permitted to establish branches and representative offices in Vietnam. These branches and representative offices operate in accordance with Vietnamese law and international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.

Legal situation: Our organization plans to establish a Branch or Representative Office of a foreign arbitration institution in Vietnam but is unsure about the appropriate choice. Dear FDVN lawyers, in this case, do we need to comply with the regulations of the foreign country or Vietnam?

FDVN’s Opinion:

Thank you for reaching out to FDVN Law Firm (FDVN) with your inquiry. After reviewing the relevant legal provisions, FDVN has some further points to discuss as follows:

1. Regulations on a dependent unit of a foreign arbitration institution in Vietnam

According to Article 75 of Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 on branches:

1. Branch is a dependent unit of a foreign arbitration institution and may be established and carry out arbitration activities in Vietnam under this Law.

2. Foreign arbitration institutions and their branches shall take responsibility before Vietnamese law for the operation of these branches.

3. A foreign arbitration institution shall appoint an arbitrator to act as head of its branch. This head is an authorized representative of the foreign arbitration institution in Vietnam.”

Besides, it is also provided in Article 77 of this law on representative offices as follows:

“1. Representative office is a dependent unit of a foreign arbitration institution and may be established and seek and promote arbitration operation opportunities in Vietnam under this Law.

2. Foreign arbitration institutions shall take responsibility before Vietnamese law for the operation of their representative offices.”

Article 79 of this law provides the operation of branches and representative offices in Vietnam of a commercial arbitration as follows: “The establishment, registration, operation, and termination of the operation of branches and representative offices comply with Vietnamese law and treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party. The Government shall detail procedures for the establishment, registration, and termination of operation of branches and representative offices.”

Based on the above provisions, foreign arbitration organizations are permitted to establish branches and representative offices in Vietnam. These branches and representative offices operate in accordance with Vietnamese law and international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.

This is the legal advice provided by FDVN based on the research of relevant legal provisions. We hope this advice will be helpful to you.

By Nguyễn Thị Lan Anh – FDVN Law Firm