Improving the Vietnamese legal framework for sustainable corporate governance through beneficial ownership transparency
摘要
In today's globalized economy, transparent beneficial ownership disclosure has become essential for corporate governance sustainability. This paper examines Vietnam’s fragmented legal framework on beneficial ownership against international standards, including FATF Recommendations and World Bank principles. The World Bank’s Doing Business Report (October 2024) ranked Vietnam in the lower-middle tier for market entry, partly due to inadequate ownership disclosure requirements. Through comparative analysis of digital-forward regulatory approaches from the EU, UK, and Singapore, we propose comprehensive reforms to integrate beneficial ownership transparency into Vietnam's corporate governance regime. Our recommendations leverage digital transformation to create a more transparent business ecosystem that enhances Vietnam’s global competitiveness while reducing administrative burdens for businesses in Vietnam’s increasingly digitalized economy.