On 26 June 2015, Vietnam loosened foreign ownership limits (FOL) in public companies by the adoption of Decree 60/2015 (Decree 60).
On 8 October 2013, the Supreme Court of Vietnam released the most recent draft of the new Law on Bankruptcy ("Draft Bankruptcy Law"). The Draft Bankruptcy Law is now open for comments and, once passed by the National Assembly, will replace the current Law on Bankruptcy 2004 ("Current Bankruptcy Law").
The Draft Bankruptcy Law appears generally to be a positive step in Vietnam's efforts to improve the efficiency of the bankruptcy process and efforts to enhance the credibility of the legal framework for restructuring.
Conduct of Bankruptcy Proceedings
ECOtality, an electric vehicle charging station manufacturer and a recipient of 2009 stimulus package Department of Energy grants, filed for bankruptcy on September 17. The company received $100.2 million in grants, but the Department froze the remaining $2.5 million in grants on August 8.
On March 20, Suntech, a Chinese solar manufacturing company, declared bankruptcy. Questions have arisen on how the country’s solar industry will now cope with overcapacity issues which stem from a decline in demand from Europe. The declaration comes a week after the company announced it had defaulted on $541 million of bonds.