Cross-Border Legal Strategy
We navigate regulatory complexity for international expansionâstructuring transactions and compliance frameworks that align Vietnamese and ASEAN requirements with institutional standards.
From Regulatory Friction to Structured Certainty
The ASEAN Context
Cross-border investment in ASEAN requires navigating a patchwork of national regulations, bilateral treaties, and international standards. Vietnam's legal and regulatory environment is evolving rapidlyâDecree 31, sector reforms, and ASEAN CIS convergence create both opportunity and complexity. We do not provide legal advice; we provide strategic structuring and coordination. Our capacity lies in mapping regulatory landscapes, designing transaction architectures, and coordinating between international investors, qualified counsel, and Vietnamese authorities. We integrate institutional best practiceâIFC, Equator, BIT frameworksâwith on-ground process familiarity to de-risk cross-border expansion. Our role is to ensure that legal and compliance considerations are built into transaction design from the outset, not retrofitted after friction emerges.
Market Execution Context
ASEAN cross-border investment meets regulatory complexity and jurisdictional friction. We bridge these gaps.
ASEAN Regulatory Convergence
The ASEAN CIS Framework and bilateral agreements are creating pathways for cross-border investment. Vietnam's FDI regime continues to evolveânegative lists, sector-specific caps, and incentive structures change frequently. International investors require real-time awareness of how these shifts affect structuring options.
Regulatory Complexity & Volatility
Decree 31, Investment Law amendments, and sector-specific regulations create a moving target. Investors without local process familiarity face delays, re-structuring costs, and compliance traps. Legal opinions and structuring advice must be continuously updated to reflect regulatory shifts.
Regulatory Intelligence & Structuring
We provide structured regulatory intelligence and transaction structuring that aligns investment vehicles with current Vietnamese and ASEAN frameworks. Our capacity includes mapping foreign investor requirements to compliant structuresânot legal representation, but strategic coordination with qualified counsel.
Joint Ventures & Asset Transfers
Cross-border JVs, asset acquisitions, and restructuring are core to market entry. ASEAN regimes vary significantly on foreign ownership limits, approval pathways, and tax treatment. Due diligence and structuring must account for both legal form and commercial reality.
Jurisdictional Mismatch
International investors apply home-country structuring norms that often conflict with Vietnamese approval processes. Documentation formats, governance structures, and dispute resolution mechanisms may not translate. Deals stall when legal teams operate in parallel without strategic coordination.
Transaction Architecture & Coordination
We design transaction architectures that satisfy both international investor expectations and Vietnamese regulatory requirements. Our capacity includes coordinating between foreign counsel, local law firms, and authorities to align documentation, timelines, and approval pathways.
Compliance & Governance Standards
IFC Performance Standards, Equator Principles, and bilateral investment treaties (BITs) impose obligations on cross-border projects. Vietnamese law increasingly incorporates ESG, anti-corruption, and data privacy requirements. Institutional investors expect demonstrable compliance.
Compliance Fragmentation
Multiple frameworksâlocal law, BITs, lender covenants, international standardsâcreate overlapping and sometimes conflicting requirements. Projects risk non-compliance when these are not mapped and integrated from the outset.
Compliance Mapping & Integration
We map international standards (IFC, Equator, BITs) to Vietnamese legal and regulatory requirements, ensuring transaction structures and governance frameworks satisfy all applicable regimes. Our capacity includes pre-emptive compliance design that de-risks due diligence and financing.
Operational Specifications
Secure Your Expansion Pathway
We eliminate cross-border legal friction by focusing on the structuring and coordination bottlenecks that traditional advisory often addresses too late.
Regulatory Intelligence
Real-time mapping of Vietnamese and ASEAN frameworks to investment structuring options.
Transaction Architecture
Design of deal structures that satisfy international and local requirements.
Compliance Integration
Alignment of IFC, Equator, BITs, and local law into coherent governance.
Coordination Capacity
Liaison between investors, counsel, and authorities to unblock approvals.