OPLAW compiles notable legal news for October 2026, including new decrees in effect and draft laws under consideration, affecting businesses and investors.
OPLAW | Legal Updates – October 2026
Entering October 2026, many legal policies related to the conversion of public non-business units, public-private partnership (PPP) investments, salary regimes, and business development orientations continue to be updated.
Notably, in addition to new decrees coming into effect, several important draft laws in the fields of securities, small and medium-sized enterprises, and cultural industries are also being discussed, aiming to improve the legal environment and enhance the efficiency of investment and business activities.
OPLAW summarizes some notable legal contents in early October 2026 as follows:
Issuance and effective date: September 30, 2026.
Decree No. 373/2026/ND-CP regulates the conversion of public non-business units into joint-stock companies or one-member limited liability companies with 100% state-owned charter capital, replacing Decree 150/2020/ND-CP.
Some notable contents:
Conversion conditions: Public non-business units must meet the principles and criteria specified in the Decree, including the condition of self-financing recurrent expenditures for the two most recent years.
Participation of foreign investors: Foreign investors are allowed to purchase shares in accordance with investment laws and related regulations, and must comply with foreign exchange management regulations.
Strategic investors: For applicable cases, investors must meet conditions regarding legal entity status, profitable business results in the two most recent years, suitable business lines, and a commitment not to transfer shares for three years.
Guarantee obligations: Strategic investors must deposit, escrow, or provide a guarantee equivalent to 20% of the value of registered shares at the initial price.
In particular, the Decree specifically regulates land handling during conversion. The land use plan must be approved before the valuation of the public non-business unit is announced, where stipulated.
For some land areas that have been allocated, leased with a one-time payment, or acquired by transfer, the unit must switch to an annual land lease payment method.
Legal perspective from OPLAW:
For investment transactions or share purchases in converted public non-business units, due diligence should not be limited to financial reports and asset valuation.
Investors need to pay special attention to land use rights, approved conversion plans, financial obligations, post-conversion ownership structure, and share transfer restrictions.
These factors can directly affect the value of the investment and the future exploitation potential of assets.
Effective date: October 01, 2026.
Decree No. 377/2026/ND-CP amends and supplements several decrees guiding the Law on Investment in the form of Public-Private Partnership, including regulations related to science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.
A notable point is the addition of a hybrid contract mechanism for PPP projects.
Accordingly, projects can combine various types of contracts or cooperation models suitable for the technological characteristics, commercialization potential, and actual conditions of the project.
Additionally, the Decree also stipulates:
State budget funds for ordering or financing scientific, technological, and innovation tasks in PPP projects are not included in the state capital ratio participating in the project as per corresponding regulations.
This funding must be managed and accounted for independently.
Technical, security, and network safety requirements must comply with relevant specialized laws.
Legal perspective from OPLAW:
The hybrid contract mechanism provides greater flexibility for cooperation projects between the public and private sectors, especially in the technology field.
However, combining multiple cooperation models also places higher demands on contract drafting and management activities.
Parties need to clearly define revenue-sharing mechanisms, ownership and exploitation rights of intellectual property, data rights, operational responsibilities, risk allocation, and capital recovery plans.
Effective date: October 02, 2026; regime applied from July 01, 2026.
Decree No. 381/2026/ND-CP regulates the public service allowance regime for cadres and civil servants working in commune, ward, and special zone-level agencies.
According to the new regulations:
An allowance rate of 55% applies to groups not receiving increased salaries or incomes under resolutions of the provincial People's Council.
An allowance rate of 25% applies to groups receiving increased salaries or incomes under the aforementioned mechanism.
If a group falls under the 25% rate but their total increased income is lower than the 55% public service allowance, they will receive the difference as stipulated.
Public service allowances are not used as a basis for calculating social insurance and health insurance contributions and benefits.
This policy directly relates to the remuneration regime for commune-level cadres and civil servants, and is not a regulation adjusting general salaries for employees in enterprises.
Note: The following contents are currently under development, review, or policy discussion, and are not yet considered new effective legal regulations.
On October 03, 2026, the National Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee discussed the draft amendment and supplement to a number of articles of the Securities Law.
Notable orientations include:
Simplifying administrative procedures and market access conditions.
Strengthening post-inspection, supervision, and transparency mechanisms for securities activities.
Promoting the linkage between initial public offerings (IPOs) and listing activities.
Improving the investment environment for foreign investors.
Researching the application of new technologies, including AI and digital transformation, in market management activities.
Legal perspective from OPLAW:
The amendment orientation shows the requirement to balance facilitating capital mobilization activities and enhancing the compliance responsibility of market participants.
For public companies, issuers, securities companies, and fund management companies, future changes may affect issuance procedures, information disclosure, corporate governance, and internal control systems.
Businesses should proactively monitor the official draft content to assess the impact before new regulations are issued.
On October 03, 2026, the Economic and Financial Committee continued to review the draft Law on Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development.
The draft law is developed with the orientation of replacing the Law on Support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 2017.
A notable point is the change in policy approach: from supporting businesses to overcome immediate difficulties to creating conditions to enhance competitiveness and sustainable development.
Policy groups currently under consideration include:
Criteria for identifying small and medium-sized enterprises.
Access to capital and support policies.
Support for innovation, digital transformation, and human resource development.
Improving the mechanism for implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of enterprise development policies.
Legal perspective from OPLAW:
Changes in classification criteria and access conditions to policies can affect the rights of many businesses, especially startups and expanding businesses.
Businesses need to monitor criteria related to capital, revenue, labor, and cases not eligible for support policies when the draft is finalized.
On October 03, 2026, the Culture and Social Affairs Committee reviewed the draft Law on Cultural Industry Development.
The draft law aims to build a mechanism for developing industries based on creativity, intellectual property, technology, and the commercialization of cultural products.
One of the issues that needs attention is the compatibility between cultural industry law and the Civil Code, Intellectual Property Law, Investment Law, and regulations related to intangible assets, licensing activities, and commercial transactions.
Legal perspective from OPLAW:
For businesses in the creative, media, design, and digital content sectors, establishing a clear legal framework is crucial for the protection, valuation, transfer, and exploitation of intellectual property rights.
Businesses need to pay attention to establishing ownership rights, the scope of use of creative assets, and commercial exploitation mechanisms from the product development stage.
From the legal updates above, OPLAW recommends that businesses and investors focus on three groups of tasks:
First, review the applicability of effective documents. Businesses need to identify which regulations directly govern their operations, the obligations arising, and the procedures to be implemented.
Second, monitor draft laws that may impact business plans. Especially for investment, capital mobilization, M&A, technology development, and intellectual property exploitation activities, early identification of legal changes will help businesses develop appropriate plans.
Third, strengthen legal governance and compliance control activities. An effective legal governance system not only helps businesses meet current regulations but also enhances adaptability when the legal environment changes.
This article compares the new points of Decree 296/2026/ND-CP amending and supplementing Decree 168/2025/ND-CP on criteria for identifying and declaring beneficial owner information of enterprises.
The Cybersecurity Law 2025 officially takes effect on July 1, 2026, marking many significant changes in cybersecurity management, user data, and service provision activities in Vietnam's cyberspace.
Decree 288/2026/ND-CP officially takes effect from July 21, 2026, amending and supplementing several provisions of Decree 122/2021/ND-CP on administrative penalties in the field of planning and investment, significantly increasing the penalties for many violations related to business registration, especially obligation
Leave your details and our expert will get in touch with you.
