Law on amendments to Law on Insurance Business of Vietnam 2025

LAW

ON AMENDMENTS TO LAW ON INSURANCE BUSINESS

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as amended by the Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly of Vietnam herein passes the Law on amendments to the Law on Insurance Business No. 08/2022/QH15.

Article 1. Amendments to Law on Insurance Business

1. Clause 3 is added following clause 2 Article 3 as follows:

“3. Entities and persons have the rights to contribute capital for establishment, and engage in management and control of insurers, reinsurers, insurance brokerage companies, mutual microinsurance organizations, and foreign branches in Vietnam, except entities and persons that are not allowed to establish and manage enterprises in Vietnam as prescribed by the Law on Enterprises.”.

2. Points b and c clause 3 Article 63 are amended as follows:

“b) Non-life insurers and branches of foreign non-life insurers are involved in business of health insurance products, each of which has the maximum insurance term of 01 year, and term life insurance products, each of which has the maximum insurance term of 01 year;

c) Health insurance companies are involved in business of term life insurance products, each of which has the maximum insurance term of 01 year.”.

3. Article 73 is amended as follows:

“Article 73. Time limit for commencing official business

1. Insurers, reinsurers, and foreign branches in Vietnam must commence their official business within 12 months of issuance of business licenses or permits, except in case of force majeure events or circumstantial obstacles. In case of force majeure events or circumstantial obstacles, insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam must report on such unexpected events in writing and receive the written consent to extension of the time limit for commencement of their official business from the Ministry of Finance; the extension of the time limit for commencement of official business shall not be longer than 12 months.

Before commencing its official business, an insurer, reinsurer or foreign branch in Vietnam must proactively perform these tasks: make full contribution of charter capital or allocated capital; elect or appoint its legal representative; elect or appoint office-holders approved in principle by the Ministry of Finance; develop its organization structure and machinery for corporate management, internal control, and internal audit, and issue procedures and rules as prescribed by law; provide security deposit in full as prescribed in this Law at a commercial bank operating in Vietnam.

2. Insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam must notify the Ministry of Finance of their fulfillment of the tasks specified in clause 1 of this Article at least 15 days before their business is officially commenced; in case of changes in office-holders approved in principle by the Ministry of Finance, provisions of Article 74 of this Law shall apply. The Ministry of Finance shall be accorded authority to cease the official business commencement of insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam when the tasks specified in clause 1 of this Article are not fulfilled yet.”.

4. Point b clause 3 Article 74 is amended as follows:

“b) Opening, closing or change of name or location of the branch or representative office of the insurer or reinsurer;”.

5. Article 81 is amended as follows:

“Article 81. Eligibility requirements and standards of managers and controllers of insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam

Managers and controllers of insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam are required to meet these general requirements and standards: not be subject to any penalty for administrative violations arising in the insurance industry, and not be disciplined in the form of dismissal for any of their violations against internal regulatory procedures for handling work within 03 consecutive years before the election or appointment date; not be the object of the decisions on initiation of legal proceedings under the regulatory provisions of law at the election or appointment time, and the following specific requirements and standards:

1. Specific requirements and standards to be satisfied by Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Chairperson of the Board of Members, Member of the Board of Directors, and Member of the Board of Members:

a) Hold at least an undergraduate degree;

b) The person holding the position of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors or the Chairperson of the Board of Members must have at least 05 years’ experience of directly working in the insurance, finance or banking sector, or at least 03 years’ experience of holding the post as a manager, operations executive or controller at an organization directly operating in the insurance, finance or banking sector. The person holding the position of the Member of the Board of Directors or the Member of the Board of Members must have at least 03 years’ experience of directly working in the insurance, finance or banking sector, or at least 03 years’ experience of holding the post as a manager, operations executive or controller at an organization directly operating in the insurance, finance or banking sector;

2. Specific requirements and standards to be satisfied by the Director or General Director and legal representative:

a) Hold at least an undergraduate degree in the insurance major. If not, he/she must hold at least an undergraduate degree in economics, finance, banking, law, business administration, accounting or auditing major for which the training program includes insurance subject, or hold at least an undergraduate degree in any other major and must complete the practicing certificate in the insurance industry conferred by an legally-licensed domestic or foreign insurance training institution;

b) Have at least 05 years’ experience of working in the insurance, finance or banking sector, including at least 03 years’ experience of holding the post as a manager or controller at an organization directly operating in the insurance, finance or banking sector;

c) Reside in Vietnam during his/her term in office;

3. Specific requirements and standards to be satisfied by the managers other than those specified in clause 1 and 2 of this Article of insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam:

a) Hold at least an undergraduate degree in the insurance major. If not, he/she must hold at least an undergraduate degree in any other major for which the training program includes insurance subject, or hold at least an undergraduate degree in any other major and must complete the practicing certificate in the insurance services within the enterprise’s scope of business conferred by an legally-licensed domestic or foreign insurance training institution;

b) Have at least 03 years’ experience of working in the insurance, finance or banking sector or holding the post for which he/she is recommended in the past. In particular, the nominee for a head of an operations department must have at least 03 years’ experience of working in the insurance sector or holding the post for which he/she is recommended in the past;

c) Reside in Vietnam during his/her term in office;

4. Controllers of insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam are required to satisfy other conditions and standards prescribed in the Government’s regulations;

5. The Minister of Finance shall elaborate point a clause 2 and point a clause 3 of this Article, and impose detailed regulations regarding training curriculum or program, application requirements, procedures and processes for certification testing, issuance, revocation, withdrawal and reissuance of insurance practising certificates issued by legally-licensed domestic insurance training institutions.”.

6. Some clauses of Article 82 are amended as follows:

a) Clause 4 is amended as follows:

“4. Meanwhile, the Actuary, Head of the risk management department or Head of the compliance department of an insurer, reinsurer, or foreign branch in Vietnam shall not be allowed to hold any other executive post at the same host entity, except the case where an Actuary concurrently holds the post as head of the actuarial department; shall not be allowed to concurrently work for any other insurer, reinsurer, or foreign branch in Vietnam.

The Actuary must perform the duties assigned by the Minister of Finance.”;

b) Clause 6 is amended as follows:

“6. The Chief Accountant, or Head of the internal audit department of an insurer, reinsurer, or foreign branch in Vietnam shall not be allowed to hold any other executive post at the same host entity, except the case where a Chief Accountant concurrently holds the post as head of the finance and accounting department; shall not be allowed to concurrently work for any other insurer, reinsurer, or foreign branch in Vietnam.”.

7. Some clauses of Article 87 are amended as follows:

a) Clause 3 is amended and clause 3a is added following clause 3 as follows:

“3. Insurers and branches of foreign non-life insurers are required to register and seek the Ministry of Finance’s consent to the premium calculation methods and bases of insurance products classified into classes or lines of life insurance or health insurance.

3a. Non-life insurers and branches of foreign non-life insurers must notify the Ministry of Finance in writing before applying or making changes in premium calculation methods and bases of vehicle insurance products, except insurance coverage against vehicle owner’s civil liability, and must exactly comply with such premium calculation methods and bases notified in writing to the Ministry of Finance.”;

b) Clauses 5 and 6 are amended as follows:

“5. The Government shall impose detailed regulations on documentation requirements, application procedures and processes for registration and notification of premium calculation methods and bases specified in clause 3 and clause 3a of this Article.

6. The Minister of Finance shall impose detailed regulations on premium calculation methods and bases specified in clause 3 and clause 3a of this Article, and provision of insurance products stipulated in clause 4 of this Article.”.

8. Article 101 is amended as follows:

“Article 101. Separate management of equity and insurance premiums, distribution of surpluses

1. Insurers, reinsurers or foreign branches in Vietnam must carry out the process of separately managing, individually recording and tracking the following sources of equity, and premiums:

a) Equity, premiums and assets classified by specific types of capital;

b) Revenues, expenses and incomes arising from insurance business or investment of equity and premiums;

c) Premiums arising from insurance business activities performed inside and outside Vietnam; revenues, expenses, technical provisions and other relevant expenses arising from insurance business conducted inside and outside Vietnam.

2. Life insurers must register and exactly comply with the methods approved by the Ministry of Finance regarding the principles of separate management of equity and insurance premiums, and the principles of distribution of surpluses for dividend-paying life insurance contracts.

Non-life insurers and branches of foreign non-life insurers must notify the Ministry of Finance in writing of their principles of separate management of equity and insurance premiums before application thereof, and must exactly comply with such principles notified in writing to the Ministry of Finance.

3. The Government shall impose detailed regulations on documentation requirements, procedures and processes for registration and notification referred to in clause 2 of this Article.

4. The Minister of Finance shall impose detailed regulations on separate management of equity and insurance premiums, and principles of distribution of surpluses, with regard to dividend-paying life insurance contracts.”.

9. Clause 1 Article 127 is amended as follows:

“1. A person acting as an insurance agent for a life insurer shall not be allowed to act as the insurance agent for any other life insurer. A person acting as an insurance agent for a non-life insurer or branch of foreign non-life insurer shall not be allowed to act as the insurance agent for any other non-life insurer or branch of foreign non-life insurer. A person acting as an insurance agent for a health insurer shall not be allowed to act as the insurance agent for any other health insurer. A person acting as an insurance agent for a mutual microinsurance organization shall not be allowed to act as the insurance agent for any other mutual microinsurance organization.”.

10. Article 134 is amended as follows:

“Article 134. Issuance of business licenses or permits of insurance brokerage companies

The Government shall impose detailed regulations on conditions, documentation requirements, procedures and processes for application for business licenses or permits of insurance brokerage companies.”.

11. Clause 3a is added following clause 3 Article 138 as follows:

“3a. Investments made by insurance brokerage companies must ensure safety, liquidity and efficiency; comply with regulations of law and self-responsibility rules applied to investment activities. Insurance brokerage companies shall not be allowed to make investments in any shape or form in their shareholders or members contributing capital or associated persons of these shareholders or members as prescribed by the Law on Enterprises, except in case of deposits made at such shareholders or members that are credit institutions.”.

12. Point dd clause 2 Article 151 is amended as follows:

“dd) Carry out specialized examination of insurers, reinsurers, foreign branches in Vietnam, mutual microinsurance organizations, insurance brokerage companies, and foreign representative offices in Vietnam;”.

13. Article 154 is amended as follows:

“Article 154. Specialized examination and inspection of insurance business

1. State insurance business authorities shall perform the functions of specialized examination of insurance business.

2. Where necessary, in order to carry out the specialized examination of insurance business, those authorities specified in clause 1 of this Article can hire independent audit bodies, consulting companies or experts to assess and give professional comments on the following matters that are alleged to cause any impacts on the safety and health of the examined entities, and must ensure independence, objectivity, and no conflict of interest:

a) Technical provisions;

b) Solvency;

c) Reinsurance;

d) Investment;

dd) Separate management of equity and insurance premiums, and distribution of surpluses;

e) Rules, terms and conditions and tariff of insurance premiums.

3. Independent audit bodies, consulting companies or experts hired shall bear legal responsibilities for accuracy, truthfulness and impartiality of their assessment data, documents and opinions on matters in question.

4. Inspection of insurance business shall comply with in accordance with regulations of law on inspection; specialized examination of insurance business shall comply with provisions of this Law and regulations of law on specialized examination.”.

14. Some points and clauses of Article 156 are amended as follows:

a) Clause 2 is amended as follows:

“2. Clause 3 Article 86, clauses 4 and 5 Article 94, Article 95, clauses 3 and 4 Article 99, of this Law shall take effect from January 01, 2028. Articles 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114 and 116 of this Law shall take effect from January 01, 2031.”;

b) Point b is amended, and point c is added following point b clause 3 as follow:

“b) Article 94 of the Law on Insurance Business No. 24/2000/QH10, as amended by the Law No. 61/2010/QH12 and Law No. 42/2019/QH14, shall remain valid until the end of December 31, 2027;

c) Articles 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 94 and 98 of the Law on Insurance Business No. 24/2000/QH10, as amended by Law No. 61/2010/QH12 and Law No. 42/2019/QH14, shall remain valid until the end of December 31, 2030.”;

c) Clause 4 is added following clause 3 as follows:

“4. From January 01, 2028 to the end of December 31, 2030, insurers, reinsurers and foreign branches in Vietnam shall monitor and manage capital, calculate capital adequacy ratios and develop appropriate plans and roadmaps for increasing their capital according to the Minister of Finance’s regulations.”.

15. Clause 2 Article 157 is amended as follows:

“2. Insurance agent practising certificates issued before the entry into force of this Law can continue to be used till end of June 30, 2026. The Minister of Finance of Vietnam shall impose detailed regulations on transformation from insurance agent practising certificates issued before the entry into force of this Law into new ones referred to in this Law.”.

Article 2. Replacement and removal of some phrases, abrogation of some Articles, clauses and points of Law on Insurance Business

1. The phrase “hoạt động đầu tư xây dựng” (“construction investment activities”) is replaced with the phrase “hoạt động xây dựng” (“construction activities”) in Article 8.

2. The phrase “an toàn thông tin” (“information security”) is replaced with the phrase “an ninh mạng” (“cybersecurity“) in Article 11.

3. The phrase “thanh tra, kiểm tra” (“examination, inspection”) is replaced with the phrase “kiểm tra chuyên ngành” (“specialized examination“) in Article 152 and Article 153.

4. The phrase “pháp luật về thanh tra” (“law on inspection”) is replaced with the phrase “pháp luật về kiểm tra chuyên ngành” (“law on specialized examination“) in Article 153.

5. The phrase “, an toàn thông tin mạng” (“, cyberinformation security”) in Article 13 is removed.

6. The phrase  “, dịch vụ phụ trợ bảo hiểm qua biên giới” (“, cross-border insurance ancillary services”) in Article 6, and the phrase “, hoạt động dịch vụ phụ trợ bảo hiểm” (“, provision of insurance ancillary services”) in Article 9 are removed.

7. Point a clause 1 and clause 4 Article 64, Article 69, clause 3 Article 71, clause 3 Article 117, point a clause 1 and clause 4 Article 133 are abrogated.

8. Article 143 and Article 155 are abrogated.

Article 3. Effect

1. This Law comes into force from January 01, 2026, except the cases prescribed in clause 2 of this Article.

2. The regulations in Clauses 6 and 8 Article 2 of this Law come into force from July 01, 2026.

This Law is ratified by the 15^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam during its 10^th Session held on December 10, 2025.