YKVN Lawyers

Asset Finance

Bank Advisory

Bank and Project Finance

Capital Markets/Securities

Construction/EPC

Foreign Investment

Intellectual Property

International Trade and Tax

Labor

Litigation

M&A and Corporate Restructuring

Real Estate

Telecommunications

Bank Advisory

Since its founding, banking has been at the core of YKVN’s practice. YKVN now represents the four largest Vietnamese State-owned banks, Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam and Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, leading Vietnamese joint stock banks, including Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Bank for Private Enterprises of Vietnam (VP Bank) and Vietnam International Bank (VIB) and international banks operating in Vietnam, including Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS, Societe Generale, Rabobank and Chinfon Bank.

YKVN advises clients on the many issues related to managing, operating, and controlling banking institutions. In particular, our practice focuses on organizational structure, permissible activities and internal control and compliance. We advise on the broad range of organizational forms through which banking organizations may conduct their banking operations in Vietnam, whether by joint venture, branch or whole-owned subsidiary. As the boundaries of permissible activities expand, especially in light of Vietnam’s recent accession to the WTO and Vietnam’s bilateral trade agreements, we counsel clients on extending their services into new areas, including retail banking, ATM, credit cards and investment banking. For example, we are now advising a number of international banks exploring opportunities to extending their services into retail banking and investment banking in Vietnam. We regularly advises foreign banks and Vietnamese banks on the drafting and negotiation of foreign currency transactions, mortgages, pledges, guarantees and leases as well on employment, privacy and data protection issues. Our representative engagements include:

•	advising Citibank on Vietnamese regulatory requirements in connection with the setting up of CitiDirect, an Internet-based payment system proposed to be launched by Citibank in more than 30 countries;
•	advising UBS in its fund distribution and asset management arrangements with the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam; and
•	advising Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam in the negotiations of its first ISDA agreements with a number of international banks.

We also work with clients to evaluate and strengthen their internal controls, risk management processes, and compliance programs – coordinating our efforts with their internal and external accountants and other professional advisors.

Our banking and finance lawyers have strong relationships with the regulators, including State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Finance, the State Securities Commission, the Ministry of Justice and the courts and we help clients maintain their own effective relationships with their regulators.