A decision to change the HS code can lead to a series of consequences: increasing import taxes, changing origin incentives, incurring value-added tax and an arrears of up to billions of VND. At that time, what businesses need to do is not to rush to affirm that "customs applied the wrong code", but to clearly determine: what the goods really are, how the law requires classification and whether the amount of tax has been calculated correctly or not.
After only about two years of implementation, the Law on Housing 2023 has faced a significant amendment. The new draft has only 132 articles compared to 198 articles of the current Law. However, more notable than the reduction of 66 articles is the change in management methods: increasing decentralization, reducing pre-inspection, cutting procedures and expanding the right to self-determination of enterprises, localities and parties in transactions.
In many cases of intellectual property (IP) infringement, enterprises can prove themselves as rights holders, prove infringement, and even force the infringing party to stop the act and destroy the infringing goods. But when it comes to asking the infringing party to reimburse the cost of hiring a lawyer, a sum of money that has actually been spent to protect their rights, the result is not so simple.
International arbitration is often chosen because of its neutrality, expertise, and cross-border enforceability. But a favorable award from a reputable overseas arbitration center does not mean that the winning party can immediately distrain assets and recover money in Vietnam. Two cases involving the awards of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), reviewed by Vietnamese courts in 2023 and 2026 , show a significant gap between "winning the arbitration case" and "enforcing the award".
With many commercial disputes today, the contract is no longer the only document that determines the outcome of the case. Many disputes are determined from a series of emails, an exchange on Microsoft Teams, or even a few Zalo messages between people who directly make transactions. This reflects the fact that business activities have shifted sharply to the digital environment, while most of the daily transactions are not recorded in official documents.
In just a few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Software as a Service (SaaS) models have shifted from technology solutions for some pioneering businesses to the operational infrastructure of many economic sectors. Businesses are no longer just buying software, but are hiring data processing capacity, decision-making capabilities, automation services, and AI models that are constantly updated through the cloud.
In M&A, completing the transaction does not mean that the risk has been closed. It is only after the time of the transfer of shares that the issues that were previously outside the due diligence dossier: from tax obligations, undisclosed debts, false information to violations of the seller's commitments can begin to emerge.
