On November 14, 2019, the Government issued Decree No. 88/2019 / ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of currency and banking. This Decree takes effect from December 31, 2019 and replaces the Government’s Decree No. 96/2014 / ND-CP of October 17, 2014, on sanctions against administrative violations in the field of currency and banking .
In particular, the provisions on sanctioning administrative violations for the violations of the regulations on foreign exchange activities are as follows:
Caution for one of the following acts: Buying and selling foreign currencies between individuals and foreign currencies bought or sold valued at under US $ 1,000 (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value); buying and selling foreign currencies at organizations that are not allowed to exchange foreign currencies but the foreign currency purchased or sold is valued at under US $ 1,000 (or other foreign currency of equivalent value); payment of goods and services in foreign currencies valued at under US $ 1,000 (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value) in contravention of law provisions.
A fine of from 20-30 million dong for one of the following acts: Failing to post up the buying and selling exchange rates at transaction locations as prescribed by law; listing exchange rates for buying and selling foreign currencies but the forms and contents of exchange rates are unclear, causing confusion for customers; Buying and selling foreign currencies between individuals, with the foreign currency bought or sold valued at between US $ 10,000 and under US $ 100,000 (or other foreign currency of equivalent value); buying and selling foreign currencies at organizations which are not allowed to exchange foreign currencies but the foreign currency purchased or sold is from USD 10,000 to less than USD 100,000 (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value); payment of goods and services in foreign currencies valued from US $ 10,000 to under US $ 100,000 (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value) in contravention of law provisions.
A fine of between VND 10-20 million for one of the following acts: Buying and selling foreign currencies between individuals, with foreign currencies bought or sold with a value of from USD 1,000 to under USD 10,000 (or other foreign currencies with Equivalent value); buying and selling foreign currencies between individuals, with the value of which the foreign currency is bought and sold valued at under US $ 1,000 (or other foreign currency of equivalent value) in case of repeated violations or repeated violations; payment of goods and services in foreign currencies valued at under US $ 1,000 (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value) in contravention of law provisions in case of repeated violations or violations; payment of goods and services in foreign currencies valued from US $ 1,000 to under US $ 10,000 (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value) in contravention of law provisions.
A fine of from VND 80-100 million shall be imposed for one of the following acts: Buying and selling foreign currencies between individuals and the foreign currencies bought or sold with a value of 100,000 USD or more (or other foreign currencies of similar value equivalent); buying and selling foreign currencies at organizations that are not allowed to exchange foreign currencies but the foreign currency purchased or sold is valued at US $ 100,000 or more (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value); payment of goods and services in foreign currencies valued at US $ 100,000 or more (or other foreign currencies of equivalent value) in contravention of law provisions.
A fine of between VND 30-50 million for one of the following acts: Signing a foreign currency exchange agent contract with an organization not eligible to act as a foreign currency exchange agent; failing to guide and inspect foreign currency exchange agents according to the provisions of law; fail to strictly perform the responsibilities of the foreign currency exchange agent as prescribed by law; acting as foreign currency exchange agent concurrently for two or more credit institutions in contravention of law provisions; transferring, carrying foreign currencies and Vietnamese dong abroad, into Vietnam in contravention of law provisions, except for administrative violations in the field of customs; …
Decree 88/2019 / ND-CP was issued to overcome the inadequacies of Decree 96/2014 / ND-CP on penalties for administrative violations in foreign exchange transactions.

On 30 November 2019, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Circular No. 23/2019/TT-BNNPTNT guiding a number of articles of Law on animal husbandry. This Circular comes into effect from 15 January 2019.
Accordingly, the Circular reflects many notable regulations as follows:
1. Decleration of animal husbandry activities
– Organisations, individuals must declare the number of livestock that they raise to commune-level People’s committee from the 25th to the 30th of the last month of each quarter.
2. Safe distance in livestock farming
– Minimum distance from a small-scale animal husbandry farm to a concentrated area for treatment of domestic and industrial waste, is at least 100 meters; and to a school, a hospital, a market, a water source for residential communities must be at least 150 meters.
– The distance from a medium-sized animal husbandry farm to a concentrated area for treatment of domestic and industrial waste is at least 200 meters; and to a school, a hospital and a market must be at least 300 meters.
– The distance from a large-scale livestock farm to a concentrated area for treatment of domestic and industrial waste must be at least 400 meters, and to a school, a hospital, a market, a water source for the community must be at least 500 meters.
– The distance between 2 different livestock farms is at least 50 meters.
3. Safe distance in breeding honey bees
– The location of breeding honey bee is home to at least 50 domestic bees or 100 foreign bees.
– Distance between 2 locations home to domestic bees is at least 1 km; distance between 2 locations home to foreign bees is at least 2 km; distance between a location home to foreign bees and that to domestic bees is at least 2 km.
Circular No. 23/2019/TT-BNNPTNT provides with many detailed regulations about declaration of and safe distance in animal husbandry activities, helping relevant organizations and invididuals to enforce Law on animal husbandry 2018 effectively.

On December 2, 2019, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) issued Circular No.25/2019/TT-NHNN, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Governor’s Circular No. 40/2011 / TT-NHNN. The State Bank of Vietnam provides for the licensing and organization and operation of commercial banks, foreign bank branches, representative offices of foreign credit institutions and other foreign organizations engaged in activities in Vietnam.
Accordingly, the Circular has supplemented the provisions on the authority of the directors of the State Bank branches in provinces, cities directly under the Central Government, namely: “Issuing licenses, amending and supplementing licenses for representative offices ”(Point b Clause 2 Article 1). The current laws only stipulate the licensing competence of the Governor of the State Bank.
At the same time, it also amended the order and procedures for establishing representative office licenses as follows:
– Foreign credit institutions and other foreign organizations conducting banking activities shall compile dossiers of application for licenses under Article 13 and Article 18 of Circular 40/2011 / TT-NHNN and submit them directly or send via postal services to the State Bank branches in provinces, cities under the central Government’s management (hereinafter referred to as the State Bank branch) where the representative office is expected to locate its head office.
Within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application file for a License, the State Bank branch shall send a written request to the foreign credit institution and foreign organization engaging in banking activities to certify that it has received a complete and valid application file. rate. In case the dossier of application for a License is incomplete and valid as prescribed, the State Bank branch shall send a written request to the foreign credit institution or other foreign organization engaging in banking activities to request the supplementation of the dossier.
– Within 60 days from the date of sending the written confirmation of receipt of the complete and valid file, the branch State Bank shall issue the License as prescribed. In case of refusal to grant a license, the State Bank branch shall issue a written reply to foreign credit institutions and other foreign organizations engaging in banking activities, clearly stating the reason for not granting the License.
According to current regulations, the entity that receives, processes applications and issues licenses is the SBV.
Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular 40/2011 / TT-NHNN creates a clear legal corridor for foreign credit institutions, enhancing the role and responsibilities of the State Bank branches in provinces and cities cities under central authority in state management.

On November 1, 2019, the Government issued Decree No. 80/2019 / ND-CP with the content of amending and supplementing a number of regulations guiding the implementation of the Law on Insurance Business.
Accordingly, an additional important content is the regulations on Insurance ancillary services, according to which, from November 1, 2019, individuals and organizations participating in the provision of insurance ancillary services must meet the conditions prescribed in the above Decree. Specifically:
For individuals providing insurance consultancy services: Being full 18 years or older, having full civil act capacity; University degree or higher in insurance industry. If not, must have a university degree or higher in another major and have a certificate of insurance consulting, which is issued by a training institution that is legally established and operates at home and abroad.
For organizations providing insurance auxiliary services: Having the legal person status, legally established and operating; Individuals directly engaged in insurance auxiliary activities must be full 18 years old and have full civil act capacity; have diplomas and certificates of insurance auxiliaries suitable to the type of insurance ancillary services provided by training establishments that are legally established and operate at home and abroad.
Particularly for individuals directly conducting loss assessment, they must also meet the standards of assessors according to the provisions of commercial law; Individuals directly performing insurance calculation must meet the standards of practicing actuarial practice and be a member of the Association of International actuaries.
Therefore, with the promulgation of Decree No. 80/2019 / ND-CP above, the Government has timely made important amendments and supplements to ensure the compatibility of the legal system in the time of the Law amending and supplementing the effective Law on Insurance Business and the Intellectual Property Law.

On November 19, 2019, the Government issued Decree 91/2019 / ND-CP on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of land, replacing Decree 102/2014 / ND-CP. The Decree has some new points on administrative sanctions in the field of land. In particular, the Decree specifies the cases and corresponding fines for acts of encroaching on and occupying land in rural and urban areas. Accordingly, for acts of land encroachment can be fined up to 1 billion. As follows:
In case of encroachment or appropriation of unused land in rural areas, the following forms and levels of fine: Fine of 2-3 million VND for the encroached land area, occupying less than 0.05 hectares; a fine of 3-5 million VND for an area of ​​land from 0.05 hectares to less than 0.1 hectares; a fine of from VND 5 to 15 million for an area of ​​land of between 0.1 hectares and under 0.5 hectares; a fine of VND 15-30 million for an area of ​​0.5 to less than 1 hectare; A fine of VND 30-70 million for an area of ​​one hectare or more.
In case of encroaching or occupying agricultural land other than rice land, special-use forest land, special-use forest land, protective forest land or production forest land in rural areas, the sanctioning forms and levels are as follows: Fine an amount of VND 3-5 million for the encroached land area, accounting for less than 0.05 hectares; a fine of between VND 5-10 million and an area of ​​land of between 0.05 hectares and under 0.1 hectares; a fine of from 10 to 30 million dong for an area of ​​land from 0.1 hectare to under 0.5 hectare; a fine of VND 30-50 million for an area of ​​0.5 to less than 1 hectare; A fine of VND 50-120 million for an area of ​​one hectare or more.
In case of encroaching or occupying agricultural land, which is rice cultivation land, special-use forest land, protective forest land or production forest land in rural areas, the sanctioning form and level are as follows: A fine of between VND 3-5 million for encroached land area, occupying less than 0.02 hectares; a fine of VND 5-7 million for an area of ​​0.02 hectares to less than 0.05 hectares; a fine of VND 7-15 million for an area of ​​land of between 0.05 hectares and under 0.1 hectares; a fine of VND 15-40 million for an area of ​​0.1 to under 1 hectare; a fine of VND 40-60 million for an area of ​​0.5 to under 1 hectare; A fine of from VND 60-150 million for an area of ​​one hectare or more.
In case of encroaching or occupying non-agricultural land in rural areas, the sanctioning forms and levels are as follows: A fine of VND 10-20 million if the land area is less than 0.05 hectares; a fine of VND 20-40 million if the land area is between 0.05 hectares and under 0.1 hectares; a fine of VND 40-100 million if the land area is between 0.1 hectares and under 0.5 hectares; a fine of VND 100-200 million if the land area is from 0.5 to less than 1 hectare; a fine of VND 200-500 million if the land area is one hectare or more.
In case of encroachment or appropriation of unused land, agricultural land, non-agricultural land in urban areas, the fine level is equal to 2 times the sanctioning level for the respective land categories specified above and the maximum fine level shall not exceed 500 million VND for individuals, not more than 1 billion VND for organizations.
Decree 91/2019 / ND-CP takes effect from January 5, 2020. With many new additions and aggravating forms of administrative sanctions, the Decree is expected to be able to deter and prevent violations, and “be stronger” in dealing with violations in the field of land.