Mr. Cao Dang Duy (Tony), a qualified lawyer of the Hanoi Bar Association, is a Head Partner of Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers’ Hanoi office, with over 15 years of multidisiplinary experience practicing in both contentious and non-contentious matters.
Mr. Duy specialises in foreign investment, M&A and corporate advisory including labour, construction, merger & antitrust, international trade & franchising, tax & customs regulations, TMT & intellectual property. He advises a wide spectrum of clients, from multinational corporations and private equity funds to emerging companies, across multiple industry sectors. he has directly advised and assisted in the establishment and operation of numerous foreign-invested companies in Vietnam. Together with Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers’ top-tier Dispute Resolution practice group, Mr. Duy has also successfully resolved various commercial and administrative disputes within the Vietnamese court system at various levels.
Mr. Duy is highly regarded by clients for his professionalism, responsiveness, and practical approach as well as his extensive knowledge of local regulations and expertise in handling complex, cross-border matters involving Vietnam.
EXPERIENCE
General Corporate, Investment & Restructuring
- Advised a Chinese company in the industrial land due diligence process and negotiation for the land lease contract for their manufacturing investment project in Nghe An province, Vietnam
- Advised a Singaporean company in the setup of a joint venture distribution company
- Advised a Singaporean company in the joint venture operating in the field of aircraft component maintenance and repair
- Advised a Japanese insurance corporation on structuring their business operation including insurance consultancy activities in Vietnam on a cross-border basis
- Advised a Chinese company in setting up their subsidiary and manufacturing investment project in Hai Phong city with the EPE status
- Advised a Singaporean company in pharmaceutical sector on several investment and operation matters in Vietnam, including amendment of their investment licenses and corporate compliance matters
- Advised a leading Chinese cement manufacturer in its US$250+ million takeover of one of Vietnam’s largest cement companies
- Assisted an U.S company in its acquisition of a 35% stake in BIDV Insurance Corporation
- Advised a Singaporean hospitality company on its buyout of a Vietnamese investor’s equity in a restaurant chain in Vietnam
- Advised a foreign joint venture party on its buyout of a Vietnamese investor’s equity in a major hotel in Hanoi, thereby creating a wholly foreign-owned company
- Advised a foreign investor on its acquisition of a 70% stake in a Vietnamese company operating in the field of animal feeds
- Advised a foreign investor in its acquisition of a Vietnamese hydropower company
- Advised a Singaporean company in the investment and operation matters of its subsidiary in Vietnam in the field of wind power energy
- Advised a Chinese company in the setup of a joint venture logistics company, and subsequent conversion into a wholly foreign-owned company
- Advised a Singaporean company in the liquidation of its subsidiary in Vietnam
- Advised a Chinese company in the bankruptcy procedures for its two subsidiaries in Vietnam
- Advised a Singaporean company on the closure of a branch and dissolution of its subsidiary in Vietnam
- Advised a foreign entity on setup of its representative office in Vietnam
- Advised various multinational corporations and FDI on general corporate compliance matters, including labor, commercial contracts, restructuring, etc.
Energy & Greenfield Investments
- Advised a foreign investor in its acquisition of a Vietnamese hydropower company
- Advised a Malaysian-invested company on daily legal issues relating to the implementation of a Thermal Power Plant Project including legal assistance in working and negotiating with MOIT, SBV and EVN as well as other State authorities regarding PPA, electricity price, financing and other issues
- Advised a Singaporean company in the investment and operation matters of its subsidiary in Vietnam in the field of wind power energy
- Advised an Indonesian company in the legal due diligence exercise and negotiations of the transaction documents for a number of potential acquisitions of solar power plant
- Advised and assisted a renewable energy company in negotiation on the PPA with EVN and general advisory for daily operation of the company for implementation of a wind power plant project
- Advised a Vietnamese financial institution on its VND 575 billion loan with EVN for the financing of a power plant in Vietnam
- Advised the Owner of an energy project for the EPC Contract with a Chinese EPC Contract
- Advised a Chinese-invested company on offshore loans registration for its renewable energy companies
- Advised a Chinese client on EPC contract for a solar power plant in Vietnam
- Advised a Thailand group in exploring opportunities on development and investment of solar projects in Vietnam
- Assisted a Chinese investor in its acquisition of a Vietnamese energy company including the legal due diligence over 10 power plants of the target company under the scope of transaction
- Advised a Chinese power company which is the PMO of a Wind Power Project for its legal matters under retainer basis
- Advised and assisted a Chinese investor and its Vietnamese-based project company in working with SBV to register offshore loans for development of their power projects in Vietnam
- Advised a BOT company on several legal matters regarding the EPC Contract with EPC Contractor for its energy project in Vietnam
- Advised a BOT Company on withholding tax matters with local tax authority and its shareholders regarding indirect capital transfer deals
- Advised a Chinese company in the legal due diligence process to acquire a renewable energy corporation in Vietnam
M&A, Merger Filing & Antitrust
- Advised an Indonesian company in the legal due diligence exercise and negotiations of the transaction documents for a number of potential acquisitions of solar power plants
- Assisted a Japan company in conducting legal due diligence exercise for an acquisition of a confectionery company
- Assisted a Malaysian company to carry out a legal due diligence investigation in connection with the proposed acquisition in a Vietnamese company operating in the field of clean water business
- Advised a Singaporean company to carry out a legal due diligence investment in connection with proposed acquisition of a Vietnam company operating in the field of software business and preparation of transaction documents
- Assisted a Chinese company to carry out a legal due diligence exercise over its subsidiaries in Vietnam
- Advised the client in the legal due diligence interviews, opinions and reviewing corporate documents relation to the IPO on Hongkong Exchange
- Advised a Singaporean company on the anti-trust issues regarding restrictions and requirements under the distributorship agreement with its distributor including the non-compete and sale restriction clauses
- Advised and assisted a Japanese corporation on merger notification for the transaction
- Advised and assisted a Chinese company on merger notification its USD 1 billion acquisition deal
- Advised and assisted a U.S private equity fund in merger filing in Vietnam with respect to the acquisition of 100% shares of a Japanese company operating in metals industry
- Advised and assisted a Chinese multi-national corporation manufacturing feed additives in merger filings in Vietnam with respect to their acquisition of a multinational company headquartered in the Netherlands
- Assisted a Chinese-based airline in merger filings in Vietnam with respect to the establishment of a Chinese full-functional joint venture company
- Advised a European cement company on onshore competition law issues, including merger notifications, on its global merger with another cement company
- Advised a Singaporean entity regarding its intracompany agreements including cartel regulations between the parent company and subsidiaries on the development and sale of their products in Vietnam market.
International Trade & Franchising
- Advised and acted for a group of Japanese entities in the investigation for applying safeguard measures initiated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade at the request of the domestic steel companies
- Advised an Indian-based steel company on anti-dumping regulations regarding the investigation against imported hot rolled steel (HRC) originated from China and India
- Advised an U.S. technology entity on the import, customs and environmental regulations over its imported hardware and the arrangement of the business model
- Advised a Sweden corporation on trading regulations for import and distribution of its cars into Vietnam market, including review of multiple contracts with their local importers and distributors in the business model
- Advised a Germany company on the transit of its e-cigarettes produced in Laos via Vietnam territory to Germany
- Advised a Singaporean company on import regulations over bottles of spirits and wine by private individuals
- Advised an U.S corporation on trading laws and provided a training on import regulations for soybean
- Advised numerous Chinese entities on regulations to determine origin of goods and C/O issuance applicable for various products such as battery products, furniture chairs, e-motorbike, semi-finished industrial gloves, etc.
- Advised a Singapore entity in F&B sector its franchising activities into Vietnam market, including registration of franchising activities, reviewing franchising agreement and compliant advice
- Advised a Japanese company in education sector in its franchising activities in Vietnam market, including registration of franchising activities, reviewing franchising agreement and compliant advice
- Assisted an England company in retail sector to review franchising agreement and advised on their franchising activities in Vietnam
- Advised a Japanese company in F&B sector in its franchising into Vietnam market, including registration of franchising activities, reviewing franchising agreement and compliant advice
- Advised an England company in e-commerce sector on its franchising agreement with a local partner in Vietnam
- Advised an U.S company on franchising regulations including review of the relevant franchising agreement and licensing agreements for the IP rights
- Advised an Italian company in the make-up and cosmetic products sector on review of contracts and registration of franchising activity in Vietnam
- Advised a Singaporean company in F&B sector on franchising activities in Vietnam including the review of its franchising agreements with Vietnamese partner
Tax & Customs
- Advised a Swedish entity on permanent establishment (PE) regulations and foreign withholding tax (FCT) over royalty earned from a patent licensing agreement with local partner in Vietnam
- Advised a foreign invested energy company in Vinh Long province a lawsuit against its foreign contractor on disputed foreign withholding tax matter relating their coal supply agreement
- Advised a foreign invested energy company in Ha Tinh province and its shareholder on the foreign withholding tax liability in relation to the shareholder’s transfer of capital
- Acted for a Korean foreign invested company in Hai Phong city on an administrative lawsuit against tax decisions over imported materials
- Acted a Korean foreign invested company in Hai Phong city on an administrative lawsuit against customs’ authority’s decisions over import taxes
- Advised an U.S. technology entity on the import, customs and environmental regulations over its imported hardware and the arrangement of the business model
- Advised a Singapore legal entity on foreign withholding tax applicable in the event of capital transfer regarding its stake in a Vietnam entity
- Advised a Denmark legal entity and its subsidiary on tax notice from authorities regarding land use
- Advised an U.S. manufacturing company on the import and customs regulations for declaring its tickets/labels to be exported to its Vietnamese partner to affix on textile products under processing agreement
- Advised a foreign invested company on customs regulations regarding materials and equipment to be used for constructing its power plant
- Advised a Taiwan legal entity for applying control and supervision measures over import-export of goods for protection of intellectual property rights
- Advised an U.S company on customs broker regulations
- Advised an FDI company on Customs Post-Clearance Audit regulations
- Advised a Chinese legal entity regarding the customs regulations and requirements for EPE
- Advised a foreign-invested company to liaise and work with the General Department of Customs on the customs policy over imported goods
- Advised a foreign-invested company on customs regulations in handling imported assets being under bankruptcy process
- Advised a Singaporean company on customs regulations for return of cargo
- Acted for a foreign invested company in a dispute matter on tax imposed by local tax authority
Technology, Media, Telecommunications
- Advised a Malaysian legal entity on telecommunications regulations and structuring for its joint venture with a local partner for investing and operating land submarine cable system
- Advised an U.S technology corporation on applicable regulations governing its cross-border supply of its cloud services as well as related regulations on security, data and telecom regulations
- Advised and assisted an U.S technology corporation to work with the competition authority regarding competition and consumer protection matters
- Advised an U.S technology corporation on broadcast regulations applicable to its social network platform
- Advised a Japanese telecom corporation on related regulations for providing its SD-WAN Service and internet services in Vietnam
- Advised an FDI company on review and registration of Personal Data Processing Impact Assessment (DIPA) and Cross-Border Personal Data Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA) dossiers
- Advised a Sweden car corporation on various data protection regulations, data localisation, data incident, reviewing data transfer and processing agreement, privacy policies and consent forms
- Advised an U.S technology corporation on import of data storage hardware and environmental regulations for handling the products and equipment
- Advised a Japanese corporation on data protection laws regarding photos on public streets to be provided on digital maps
- Advised a German company on personal data regulations regarding its whistleblowing policy
- Advised a Japanese company on legal issues regarding cyberinformation security accident
- Advised an U.S company on data regulations regarding its internet connectivity and security filtering services
- Advised a Japanese tech company on data localisation regulations and related data matters
- Advised an U.S social network platform on various legal matters including data, telecom and broadcasting regulations
- Advised a Singaporean company on its compliance manual and data breach management plan
- Advised a Singaporean company on data regulations governing its related medical services including the consents and data protection policy for patients
- Advised a Japanese company on registration of a technology transfer agreement
- Advised an FDI company on technology transfer agreement (TTA) and registration of its TTA with authority
Intellectual Property (Trademark & Copyright)
- Advised a Vietnamese company on drafting a technology transfer agreement with its Indian partner
- Advised a Singaporean legal entity against a local company producing counterfeit products against the client’s IP rights
- Advised a Japanese Institute on the intellectual property laws in view of implementing the Trans-Pacific Partnerships (TPP) Agreement
- Advised a Japanese Institute on legal framework and practices for the protection of trade secrets
- Advised several Singapore companies on different IP matters including Employee’s Invention, parallel import, technology transfer, copyright, etc.
- Advised a Singapore company on customs records to enforce the IP rights at Vietnam’s border gates
- Advised a Vietnamese company on a trademark dispute over the use of a similar trademark
- Advised several Singapore companies of trademark disputes over the use of similar trademarks
- Advised a Spanish company on a copyright dispute over website coding
- Advised a Japanese company on domain name squatting and IP dispute
- Advised a Singaporean company on trademark assignment and registration of the assignment
- Advised Vietnamese entertainment company on trademark registration and copyright registration
- Advised an F&B Vietnamese company on trademark registration and copyright registration
- Advised a Japanese company on a license agreement regarding its technology and trademark regarding production of vaccines and biological products
- Advised a Chinese company in opposition against a number of trademark applications
- Advised a Malaysian company on renewal of its trademark protection certificate
- Advised a Singaporean company on registration of various trademarks in Vietnam
- Advised a Singaporean company on renewal of its trademark production certificate in Vietnam
- Advised a Taiwan company on application of customs measures preventing the counterfeit products which are in breach of its protected trademarks
- Advised an UK company on registration of its trademark in Vietnam
- Advised a German tobacco company on trademark regulation in relation to its licensing agreement with its Vietnamese partner
- Advised a Japanese Association on copyright infringement matter
Others
Banking & Finance
- Advised a Japanese company on a short-term offshore loan of US$15 million with a Vietnamese company
- Advised a Chinese company in the restructure of a long-term offshore loan of US$6 million with a Vietnamese company with a Hong Kong corporation, as well as cross-border security arrangements
- Advised a Taiwanese investor as lender in a US$15 million project financing for a BT project in Quang Ninh Province
- Advised a Vietnamese financial institution on its VND 575 billion loan with EVN for the financing of a power plant in Vietnam
- Advised a Vietnamese stated own enterprise in oil and gas industry in a US$17+ million project financing for the development of a drilling plant
- Advised a Malaysian company on financing matters with lenders for implementing the Duyen Hai 2 BOT Project including the offshore facility agreement, offshore loan registration at the SBV, drafting security arrangements and registration of the relevant security agreements at NRAST and Land Registrar
Dispute Resolution
- Advised and acted for a foreign-invested company against in an administrative lawsuit at court against the decisions of the tax authorities
- Advised and acted for a Chinese-invested company in a lawsuit at court regarding the commercial dispute from land lease transaction
- Acted for Vietnamese trading company regarding a sales dispute
- Advised and acted for a Japanese-invested company in a lawsuit at court for debt claims against the construction works’ owner
- Advised and acted for a Singaporean bank in its dispute with a local trading company regarding payments via a documentary letter of credit
- Advised and acted for a Turkish company in a lawsuit at court for service fee claims against a Vietnamese company
- Advised and acted for a Japanese company in a dispute in connection with its transfer agreements with a Vietnamese party
- Acted for a Korean foreign invested company in Hai Phong city on an administrative lawsuit against tax decisions over imported materials
- Acted for a Singapore foreign invested company in an administrative lawsuit on tax imposed by local tax authority
PUBLICATIONS
- “M&A transactions – Legal notes on competition”, Saigon Economy (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Dec 2014 (published in Vietnamese)
- Vietnam publishes draft transfer pricing law to combat tax avoidance, MNE Tax (23 November 2016) (published in English)
- Development of renewable energy projects in Vietnam (June 2022) (published in English)
- An assessment of commercial mediation activities in Vietnam: Advantages and Challenges, Brazilian ADR Journal (March 2023) (published in English)
MEMBERSHIPS
- Member, Hanoi Bar Association
- Mediator, the Vietnam International Commercial Mediation Center (VICMC)
AWARDS
- Asia Top 15 IP Lawyers – Asia Business Law Journal (2025)