Dino Santaniello, head of Tilleke & Gibbins’ Vientiane office, has contributed the Laos chapter to the Foreign Investment Review 2020, a global guide to the legal and regulatory environment for foreign investment in 19 jurisdictions worldwide. Published and distributed by Getting the Deal Through, the guide discusses law and policy on oversight of foreign investment, regulatory frameworks, procedural requirements, and other important stipulations for foreign investors.

The Laos chapter, which aims to give investors an understanding of what to expect when establishing operations and operating in the Lao market, covers the following issues:

• Law and Policy: Government policies and practices, main laws and their scope of application (including details on investment promotional measures), definitions, rules for state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds, relevant authorities and oversight, and national interest provisions.
• Procedure: Jurisdictional thresholds, national interest clearance, securing approval, the review process for competition clearance and associated penalties, involvement of authorities, facilitation of clearance, and post-closing regulatory powers.
• Substantive assessment: Substantive tests for clearance, authorities’ consultation with other countries and other relevant parties, transactional prohibitions and objections, mitigating arrangements and challenges to a decision, and protection of confidential information.
• Recent cases, updates, and trends: Relevant recent case law, key recent and ongoing developments.

The Laos chapter is available below as a PDF.

Tilleke & Gibbins also contributed the Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam chapters to Foreign Investment Review 2020. To browse all 19 jurisdictions covered by the guide, please visit the Getting the Deal Through website.