On November 23, 2021, Thailand’s cabinet approved in principle the amended Ministerial Regulation No. 13 issued under the Exchange Control Act, B.E. 2485 (1942), as amended (ECA). The ECA is an integral instrument of the Bank of Thailand (BOT) for regulating businesses relating to foreign means of payment (i.e., foreign exchange business) and controlling inward and outward remittances as well as exchange and conversion between Thai baht and foreign currencies. Under the current ECA, no party may purchase, sell, lend, exchange, or transfer foreign currencies except for authorized juristic persons (bank and non-bank entities) or authorized individuals who are licensed by the Ministry of Finance. The major amendments to Ministerial Regulation No. 13 of the ECA introduce a number of changes to the current regulations for foreign exchange business operations: Expansion of the scope of foreign exchange business The scope of a foreign exchange business is currently limited to purchasing, selling, lending, and exchanging foreign currency in the form of banknotes, coins, and travelers’ cheques (i.e., banknotes-to-banknotes conversion only). The new amendments will expand the scope of foreign exchange business to include more foreign currency payment types. For instance, foreign travelers will be able to use credit or debit cards issued by a foreign commercial bank to exchange for cash (i.e., card-to-banknotes conversion). Additional modes of authorizing foreign exchange businesses Licensing is currently the only mode of authorization for a foreign exchange business in Thailand. Under the amended regulations, there will be two options for authorization: licensing or registration. While the exact requirements and definition of “registration” will become clearer after the actual amended regulation and any subordinate legislation become available, this indication of an additional mode of authorization may imply varying requirements and burdens in the application process. Allowance of a foreign exchange business license to cover all

As international integration has been one of Vietnam’s principal economic goals, the country’s demand for a highly educated labor force equipped with international-standard education has become higher and higher. As studying abroad may be financially burdensome, international-standard education offered by local entities has become a reasonable choice for many Vietnamese students. As a result, the sector has attracted more and more investors, both local and foreign. Some popular options for global brands to enter the promising education market of Vietnam are discussed below. 1. Establishing a Foreign-Invested Educational Institution Foreign-invested educational institutions (FIEI) include (i) short-term training institutions such as foreign language centers; (ii) kindergartens; (iii) compulsory educational institutions (primary, intermediate, or high schools or combined schools); (iv) universities; or (v) branches of foreign universities). To establish a FIEI in Vietnam, a foreign investor needs to either establish a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) or form a joint venture company with a local partner. The established company must have in its license a business line of providing educational services (e.g., primary education services or university education services) because Vietnam practices the doctrine of corporate ultra vires, meaning that all enterprises, including WFOEs and joint ventures, may only engage in activities (business lines) which are approved by the licensing authorities. Moreover, under Vietnamese laws, educational services are a conditional business line; thus, the established company must obtain required sublicenses for providing these services in Vietnam. Typically, some or all of the following steps will need to be carried out for a FIEI to be established and start operating in Vietnam: Obtaining an Investment Registration Certificate (IRC). The IRC will recognize the contents relating to the investment project, such as the investor(s), project location, objectives and scale of the project, investment capital, investment incentives and restrictions, etc. Obtaining an Enterprise Registration Certificate

On November 25, 2021, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) issued a list of investment sectors that will receive priority attention in order to encourage national development and state building. The investment activities that MIC will prioritize are the following: Fertilizer manufacturing Cement manufacturing Iron and steel manufacturing Agriculture and livestock farming and related industries Value-added manufacturing of foodstuffs Electric vehicle manufacturing Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing Public transportation services Both foreign investors and local investors may invest in these sectors, and the MIC, ministries, and relevant state and regional governments will provide necessary assistance to the investors under the Myanmar Investment Law 2016. For more details on the new requirements, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected] or +95 9 772 440 001.

On September 30, 2021, Thailand’s Revenue Department released a notification prescribing country-by-country (CBC) transfer pricing reporting requirements for multinational enterprise (MNE) groups that do business in Thailand. The Notification of the Director-General of the Revenue Department Re: Income Tax (No. 408) applies to accounting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2021, with the CBC report submitted at the same time as the annual corporate income tax (P.N.D. 50) filing (i.e., within 150 days of the end of the accounting period). For example, if the accounting period ends on December 31, 2021, the CBC report must be filed by May 30, 2022. Background The CBC report functions as part of a three-tier structure, together with a global master file and a local file, as recommended by the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) Action 13 report (Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting). The CBC reporting requirement targets large MNEs, with the aim of encouraging international tax transparency, improving tax authorities’ access to information on MNEs’ global allocation of income and taxes paid, and helping governments to assess high-level transfer pricing risks and conduct economic and statistical analysis. The CBC reporting requirement will allow Thailand to exchange tax and financial information on an automatic basis with other signatories of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance on Tax Matters. This goes in tandem with the recently passed Act Amending the Revenue Code (No. 54) B.E. 2564 (2021), which empowers the director-general of the Revenue Department to exchange information with competent authorities in other jurisdictions. Entities Required to Submit CBC Reports The CBC report notification applies to MNE groups that do business in Thailand and at least one other jurisdiction and that have consolidated group revenue of at least THB 28 billion (approx. USD 847.6 million) in a 12-month accounting