On May 10, 2013, the Vietnamese government issued Decree No. 43/2013/ND-CP (Decree 43) providing detailed regulations on the implementation of Article 10 of the Law on Trade Unions. Decree 43, which took effect on July 1, 2013, focuses primarily on the role of trade unions formed within employer organizations, otherwise known as “Grassroots Trade Unions.” According to Decree 43, Grassroots Trade Unions are to protect employee interests in the following manner:

Technology outsourcing arrangements are becoming more and more widespread. Commercially, they can allow businesses to save money while at the same time improving the quality of IT services.But these arrangements also raise a number of legal issues for both vendors and customers. Depending on the specifics of the outsourcing, the contracts may involve agreements for consulting, software development, licensing, implementation, and maintenance, among others. The following are some of the issues that may be of concern when negotiating technology outsourcing agreements.

Within the financial services industry, insurance and reinsurance businesses stand out as extraordinarily multifaceted and challenging. This is because they are faced with a wide array of issues that arise from customers and extend all the way to regulators and capital providers.

The Vietnamese Government recently released Decree No. 55/2013/ND-CP detailing the conditions for labor outsourcing. While labor outsourcing previously existed in practice, it had been technically illegal until legislation relating to it was introduced for the first time by the new Labor Code (effective since May 1, 2013).Not all types of work may be outsourced. Pursuant to the guiding Decree, labor outsourcing is restricted to the following types of work:

This Compliance Complete country profile looks at Thailand, which traditionally has had a reputation as a “crossroads” for numerous illegal activities and of the laundering of significant sums of tainted money.Member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)? No.Any Egmont members? Yes. Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) is a member of the Egmont Group.The offense

On May 1, 2013, the new Labor Code (Law 10-2012-QH13 of June 18, 2012) entered into force. This legal update highlights four important changes to the Vietnamese labor laws, introduced by the new Labor Code.Working Hours

International headlines recently focused on a dramatic case of regulatory enforcement against an online pharmacy. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that a 33-year-old Thai woman was running a company with the website www.eDrugnet.com, along with at least 30 other affiliated websites. These sites sold drugs without prescriptions, despite the fact that prescriptions were required in the purchasers’ country. These e-pharmacy websites were hosted in Thailand and shipped drugs to the United States.

Almost everyone nowadays is familiar with the words “intellectual property” and “patents.” This is largely because intellectual property (IP) is a vitally important part of developing and maintaining a profitable business.Having recognized the importance of IP protection, you also need to understand the types of protection you can obtain and the benefits of each. There are several types of IP—including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets—each of which offers different legal rights and protections.