You are using an outdated browser and your browsing experience will not be optimal. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Install Microsoft Edge

September 10, 2019

New Amendments to Vietnam’s Law on Insurance Business

Subscribe to Updates

On June 14, 2019, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed Law No. 42/2019/QH14 amending the Law on Insurance Business and the Law on Intellectual Property, which will come into effect on November 1, 2019, except for certain provisions amending the Law on Intellectual Property.

Although “services auxiliary to insurance” were committed to in the Schedule of Specific Commitments in Services of Vietnam to the World Trade Organization on January 11, 2007, and exist in practice, they are now, for the first time, regulated in Vietnamese domestic law. Some key regulations on the provision of services auxiliary to insurance are presented below.

Definitions of Services Auxiliary to Insurance

According to the amended Law on Insurance Business, services auxiliary to insurance are defined as a part of insurance business activities conducted by insurance enterprises, insurance brokerage enterprises, and other organizations and individuals for profit, and include the following:

  • Insurance consultancy;
  • Insurance risk assessment;
  • Insurance calculation (actuarial services);
  • Insurance loss assessment; and
  • Insurance indemnity settlement support.

Requirements for Provision of Services Auxiliary to Insurance

The amended Law on Insurance Business sets out requirements for individuals and organizations who wish to provide services auxiliary to insurance as follows.

With respect to an individual providing insurance consultancy services:

(i) Be 18 years or older with full civil act capacity.

(ii) Have a university or higher-level degree in the specialized insurance sector; if the individual does not have such degree, then he or she must have a university or higher-level degree in another specialty and also a certificate on insurance consultancy issued by a training institute lawfully established and operating either in Vietnam or abroad.

With respect to an organization providing services auxiliary to insurance:

(i) Have legal entity status and be duly incorporated and operating.

(ii) Ensure that any individuals directly providing the services auxiliary to insurance within the organization are 18 years or older with full civil act capacity. Each individual must also have a diploma or certificate appropriate for each type of services auxiliary to insurance provided, and the certificate must be issued by a training institute lawfully established and operating either in Vietnam or abroad.

Individuals directly engaged in insurance loss assessment activities must also satisfy the criteria for assessors stipulated in the commercial law, which requires an appropriate university/college degree, professional certificate, and three years of experience in assessment of goods or services.

Individuals directly providing actuarial services must also satisfy the criteria on compliance with law, ethics, qualifications, insurance actuarial practicing experience and membership in the International Actuarial Association.

It is worth noting that the amended Law on Insurance Business only provides some general requirements as explained above. The detailed requirements will be further regulated by subsequent subordinate legislation (such as a government decree or ministry circular).

Furthermore, other than the above requirements, providers of services auxiliary to insurance also have responsibilities, among others, to maintain the confidentiality of customer information and purchase professional indemnity insurance appropriate for each type of service auxiliary to insurance.

Transitional Provisions

Within one year after the effective date of the amended Law on Insurance Business (i.e., by November 1, 2020), companies and individuals currently providing services auxiliary to insurance must satisfy the required conditions for providing such services. In other words, a company which wishes to provide services auxiliary to insurance must register with the relevant licensing authority to add such services to the company’s business lines. The addition of a business line in Vietnam is currently fairly straightforward. However, such company still needs to wait for the coming guiding legislation from the government and/or the Ministry of Finance.

For more details on the amended Law on Insurance Business, please contact us at [email protected].

Related Professionals

Industries

Insurance

Location

RELATED INSIGHTS​ 

June 5, 2026
Thailand’s Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) has opened a public hearing on proposed amendments to the OIC Notification on Criteria for Information Technology Risk Governance and Management for Life Insurance and Non-Life Insurance Companies B.E. 2563 (2020) via the centralized Law platform. The public consultation period runs from May 8, 2026, to June 9, 2026. The proposed amendments aim to elevate the IT risk governance and cybersecurity risk management framework to be more modern and aligned with international standards, with a focus on strengthening cyber resilience, enhancing the role of IT audits, and establishing data governance and data quality controls. The parties affected by these amendments include life insurance companies, non-life insurance companies, and external IT auditors. Key Changes Elevated Role of Board of Directors The proposed notification requires the company’s board of directors to oversee data governance, cybersecurity, and the responsible use of AI. Additionally, the board should include at least one director with IT knowledge or experience. Companies are also required to designate a head of security responsible for information security. The board’s duties are expanded to include oversight of data governance and AI usage, including establishing relevant policies and committees. Enhanced IT Security and Cybersecurity The revised notification consolidates the existing chapters on IT project management, IT security and cybersecurity to reduce redundancy, and introduces significant new measures. These include mandatory multi-factor authentication for material systems, enhanced data security measures such as data masking and data leakage prevention, security hardening requirements, web filtering, and mandatory vulnerability assessment and penetration testing at least annually. New requirements are also introduced for mobile application security, API security, and security measures for emerging technologies such as cloud computing and post quantum cryptography. The cybersecurity framework now encompasses identification, protection, detection, response, and recovery. The draft also introduces source code review
Read More
April 9, 2026
Thailand’s Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) has published two parallel sets of draft regulatory amendments for public hearing—one governing non-life insurance and the other governing life insurance. The proposed amendments would significantly revise the rules for issuing, offering, and selling insurance policies, as well as the conduct of agents, brokers, and banks. Stakeholders may submit comments until April 25, 2026. The key proposed changes are summarized below. Electronic Policy Delivery by Default Under both draft amendments, electronic delivery would become the default method for delivering insurance policies. A printed copy would be required only if the policyholder expressly opts out, and any such printed copy would be treated as a substitute for the electronic original. For life insurance, this requirement would also extend to coverage summaries and to exclusion documents. The OIC would also retain authority to approve alternative delivery methods for specific types of policies. Misuse of Licenses Both amendments would introduce an explicit prohibition against sales representatives using another person’s name or license, or allowing another person to use their name or license, in connection with the offering of insurance or in sales documentation and policies. Premium Collection Reforms Both amendments would introduce the premium collection reforms outlined below. Premium receipt accounts Insurers must ensure that sales representatives inform customers of the available payment channels, which are limited to channels that remit premiums into the insurer’s account. If a customer pays an insurance premium to an insurer’s employee, an insurance broker, or any other person, and the company acknowledges the payment by issuing an insurance policy or other documentary evidence of insurance coverage, the insurer would be deemed to have received the insurance premium. Written premium collection and refund guidelines Insurers would be required to prepare written internal guidelines covering premium collection and refund policies, risk
Read More
April 2, 2026
Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) enforcement has entered a new phase, and the insurance industry is squarely in the regulatory spotlight. The Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) considers insurers “large-scale” processors of sensitive data—including health records, financial information, and biometric data—making the sector a focal point for enforcement action. In August 2025 alone, the PDPC issued administrative fines totaling THB 21.5 million, and fines for individual violations have ranged from THB 50,000 to THB 2 million. The PDPC has also deployed its “Eagle Eye Crawler,” an AI-driven surveillance tool that monitors websites around the clock for data leaks and noncompliant privacy notices. This article highlights the key regulatory developments directly affecting insurers and outlines practical steps toward compliance. What Has Changed: OIC and PDPC Alignment The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) has synchronized its sector-specific rules with the PDPA through the Notification on Customer Personal Data Protection (No. 2) B.E. 2568 (2025). The combined effect of the PDPC’s general enforcement push and the OIC’s sectoral guidance creates four critical compliance areas for insurers. Consent unbundling. Consent for marketing must be strictly separated from the core insurance contract; bundling marketing consent into the policy application is no longer permissible. Agent and intermediary oversight. Insurance intermediaries are generally classified as data processors, meaning that insurers—as data controllers—must provide specific written instructions and security protocols to all agents and brokers. A 2026 enforcement trend shows controllers being held liable for the “weak security” of their vendors and downstream processors. Enhanced privacy notices. Insurers must provide a summary privacy notice alongside the full policy, plainly stating categories of data, purposes, lawful bases, disclosure recipients, cross-border transfers, retention periods, data subject rights, and easy marketing opt-out channels. DPO registration and ROPA. All organizations involved in “regular or systematic monitoring of data subjects on
Read More
March 17, 2026
Thailand’s Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) has introduced comprehensive group-wide supervision requirements for insurers operating within corporate groups. Published on February 26, 2026, in two separate notifications in the Government Gazette, the new rules establish parallel frameworks for life and non-life insurance companies. Both notifications take effect on July 1, 2026, and impose significant new requirements on insurance business groups. Affected insurers should begin reviewing their group structures, governance frameworks, and risk management systems now to ensure timely compliance. The notifications aim to ensure that group-level operations are orderly, stable, and reliable, and prevent the accumulation of systemic risk that could undermine public confidence in the insurance sector. Both notifications share a substantially parallel structure and require insurers to assess and manage the financial position, risk exposure, reliability, and corporate governance of their entire insurance business group on a comprehensive and ongoing basis. The regulations introduce definitions for several key terms. An “insurance business group” encompasses the insurer together with its ultimate parent company, parent companies, subsidiaries, and related companies. The “head of the insurance business group” is the entity responsible for overseeing group-wide supervision, operations, and governance. An “ultimate parent company” is one that exercises control without itself being controlled by another entity. Key Requirements The notifications establish the following core obligations for insurers: Group structure and shareholding reporting: Insurers must report the organizational chart and shareholding structure of their insurance business group—covering the ultimate parent company, parent companies, subsidiaries, and related entities—to the OIC registrar by June of each year, and whenever material changes occur. The regulations prescribe specific thresholds for determining when shareholding proportions constitute control. Corporate governance standards: Board members, executives, and authorized persons of the ultimate parent company or parent company must not be disqualified (e.g., bankrupt individuals, persons convicted of property-related fraud, or
Read More