On June 29, 2016, the State Bank of Vietnam issued the Circular 12/2016/TT-NHNN guiding the foreign exchange management of offshore investment activities and takes effect August 13, 2016.
In accordance with the regulations of this Decree, after being granted an offshore investment registration certificate, an investor shall open 1 (one) investment capital account in 1 (one) type of foreign currency that meets its/his/her demand for outbound transfer of investment capital at 1 (one) licensed credit institution, and register offshore investment-related foreign exchange transactions. In case of outbound transfer of Vietnam-dong investment capital, an investor may concurrently open and use 1 (one) Vietnam-dong investment capital account and 1 (one) foreign-currency investment capital account at 1 (one) licensed credit institution and shall register offshore investment-related foreign exchange transactions. An investor that has more than one overseas investment project shall open a separate investment capital account for every project.
Investors shall transfer foreign currency amounts abroad before they are granted offshore investment registration certificates via only 1 (one) foreign-currency pre-investment account opened at 1 (one) licensed credit institution. After an offshore investment registration certificate is granted for a project, the foreign currency account shall be used as an investment capital account and registered with the State Bank.
