Overhaul of Vietnam's Court System (Resolution 81/2025/UBTVQH15)
On 27 June 2025, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly passed Resolution 81/2025/UBTVQH15 (“Resolution“) to establish new provincial and regional courts, as well as reorganise the court system. The Resolution came into effect from 1 July 2025.
In line with Vietnam’s broader administrative restructuring (i.e. updating of the country’s map), the Resolution merges a number of provincial courts in Vietnam, as well as establishing “regional level” courts to replace district courts.
Furthermore, specialised intellectual property courts will be established in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. This is a first for the country and a major move towards strengthening the judiciary’s capacity to handle disputes in this specialised sector.
Law on Personal Data Protection Takes Effect on 1 January 2026
On 26 June 2025, the National Assembly passed the Law on Personal Data Protection (“Law on PDP“), Vietnam’s first standalone law on personal data. The Law on PDP is set to take effect from 1 January 2026.
The Law on PDP adopts much of the principles and provisions in the existing Decree on Personal Data Protection. It requires, with limited exceptions, explicit consent for data processing activities and sets out broad data subject rights. The requirement to prepare and file impact assessment dossiers (both for data processing and for cross-border data transfers) has also been maintained. However, the specific procedures and forms of these dossiers is to be the subject of further Government guidance.
The Law on PDP introduces specific sectoral rules on personal data protection, for example, specific rules surrounding data processing activities in banking, insurance, marketing, social media, employment, artificial intelligence, etc.
For more information, click here to read our Legal Update.
Law on Digital Technology Industry Comes into Effect on 1 January 2026
On 19 June 2025, the National Assembly passed the Law on Digital Technology Industry (“Law on DTI“), which will take effect 1 January 2026.
The Law on DTI aims to provide a unified legal framework for emerging technologies and accelerate Vietnam’s digital transformation through innovation, regulation and human capital development. It broadly sets out policies to promote the development of investment in technological innovation by offering preferential treatment for qualified technology companies, such as tax incentives and support in research and development.
Another notable development from the Law on DTI is the establishment of a legal framework for digital assets and artificial intelligence (“AI“), a first in the country. While the Law on DTI does not set out detailed provisions, it creates a clear legal basis for recognising and managing digital assets and AI solutions, supporting their use in commerce and investment. Further policies and regulations in this sector will be enacted in the future.
Updated Enterprise Regulations (Amendments to Law on Enterprises and Guiding Decree 168/2025/ND-CP)
On 17 June 2025, the National Assembly passed amendments to the Law on Enterprises, and this was subsequently followed by the Government’s Decree 168/2025/ND‑CP on enterprise registration on 30 June 2025. These amendments came into effect from 1 July 2025.
The most significant change brought about by the amendments is the requirement for enterprises to specify and declare “beneficial owners” in enterprise registration procedures, in line with anti-money laundering and transparency objectives. For more information on this aspect of the amendments, please click here to read our Legal Update.
The amendments also introduce debt-to-equity requirements for private issuers of bonds, new restrictions against civil servants from managing companies and more prescriptive rules on valuation of assets for the purposes of capital contributions into enterprises.
New Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox (Decree 94/2025/ND-CP)
On 29 April 2025, the Vietnam government passed Decree 94/2025/ND‑CP to establish a regulatory sandbox for financial technology (“Regulatory Sandbox“) in the banking sector (“Decree 94“). Decree 94 came into effect from 1 July 2025.
Decree 94 establishes a process by which banks or financial technology companies can now engage in the Regulatory Sandbox and test solutions for credit scoring, open APIs, and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. These are sectors that, to date, have been largely unregulated. The Regulatory Sandbox will be conducted under the supervision of the State Bank of Vietnam (“SBV“) and companies that wish to participate in the Regulatory Sandbox will need to apply to, and be approved by, the SBV.
The Regulatory Sandbox period is initially capped at two years. Limited extensions are subject to SBV’s discretion.
Please note that whilst the information in this Update is correct to the best of our knowledge and belief at the time of writing, it is only intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter and should not be treated as a substitute for specific professional advice