VCI Legal

Special Counsel, ADR David is a special counsel of VCI LEGAL in the firm’s Ho Chi Minh City office and practices in the fields of dispute resolution (arbitration, mediation, and litigation), investment protection, corporate, and M&A. He has been advising and representing various clients across the globe for their international arbitration cases including several Investor-State Dispute Resolution (ISDS) disputes since his joining VCI Legal. His expertise in arbitration and ISDS has contributed to the firm’s robust ADR practices. He previously worked extensively in matters involving competition law, franchising, alternative dispute resolution and general corporate advisory work in South Korea and Australia. He also negotiated and structured a number of Korean domestic and overseas acquisitions and joint ventures. David has a truly international legal background, encompassing both civil law and common law education and practice, with law degrees from leading Korean and Australian law schools. Professional Records: With VCI Legal, David has been advising and representing various dispute and investment cases. Some of the notable cases are as follows: Representing a Malaysian investor for its ISDS dispute arising from unfair and discriminatory treatment accorded by the State; Representing a French investor for its ISDS dispute arising from unlawful expropriation of the investment by the State; Advising various investors (the US, Korean, German, French, etc.) for the prospect of their ISDS cases against the State; Representing a multinational cosmetic brand for its tax dispute against local tax authority; Representing an investment fund for its shareholder dispute against a company in which it invested; Representing a Vietnamese real estate developer for its M&A dispute against a Singaporean seller; Representing various foreign entities for their arbitration cases against local partners; Advising a multinational ride-hailing company for its competition issues; and Advising a multinational retail company for its M&A transaction. Practice Areas Investment Dispute Settlement Arbitration & Mediation Corporation & Securities Merger & Acquisition Investment, Commercial Transaction Antitrust, Venture Capital

Kent Wong

Branch Manager, Partner and Head of Banking & Capital Markets Prior to joining VCI Legal in 2013, Kent was a senior foreign attorney and partner at APEX LLC, a first tier law firm in Korea. Kent represents major Korean financial institutions investing overseas (especially in ASEAN) as well as foreign clients with business interests in Korea and Vietnam advising on cross-border financing, corporate finance, M&A, joint ventures, private equity and syndicated loans, equity financing, IPOs, and restructuring. Previous banking clients include: Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, Shinhan, KEB, Woori, Hana, Hyundai Swiss Savings, Kookmin, Union Banques Arabes et Françaises, Macquarie, KEXIM and Bank of Communications. Kent worked for several years at JLT Risk Solutions (US branch of Jardine Lloyd Thompson, a major UK reinsurer) as a risk and compliance manager and he has over 20 years’ international experience working at top firms in the U.S., Korea, Cambodia, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Kent also served on the Board of Directors of The Kiwi Chamber (New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea) from 2009 to 2011. He currently serves as Chairman of EuroCham’s Legal Sector Committee and Legal Advisor to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (ICCV). Practice areas Banking & Finance Cross-Border Capital Markets Corporate, M&A Energy Reinsurance Recognition & Accomplishments He was conferred an IBA Fellowship in International Legal Practice by the IBA and the College of Law, England & Wales in 2010. He has written numerous journal articles and lectured on capital markets, reinsurance, project finance, banking & finance, M&A, REITs, and international tax regimes. He was named an Asialaw Leading Lawyer in Banking & Finance/Capital Markets in 2012-2018 and an IFLR Rising Star in Corporate, M&A and Banking & Finance, 2018-2020.

Tuan Phung

Managing Partner Mr. Tuan Phung possesses a vast experience in practicing law in Vietnam. His experiences in law and involvement with the management of international business in Vietnam provide him a unique qualification in consulting both as a business manager and a legal expert. He is the creator of the “In-house Counsel Service™” and various specialized legal services for Multinational Business in Vietnam which has been retained by client of various multinational companies. In addition to the field of international trade and business law, through 20 years of practice experience, Mr. Tuan also participated in major litigation in the commercial, banking and capital markets in Vietnam. Specifically, he recently: Engaged to represent for a large domestic enterprise to litigate in U.S court about Recognition and Enforcement of the Vietnam Law as a Vietnamese legal expert for Houston court, Texas, USA. Participated in one of 10 “great cases” in the banking sector as a representative & defending lawyer (related to Nguyen Duc Kien and former board members of the ACB, Vietinbank, ACB Securities, VietBank and Kien Long Bank). Currently he and his litigation lawyer team are cooperating closely as a Vietnamese partner with the Dispute Resolution Committee – American Bar Association – ABA and the Ministry of Justice of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the development support from the ABA – American Bar Association in the fields of institution building, legislative activities, and necessary technical assistance to promote the settlement of disputes by arbitration, commercial mediation in Vietnam Before founding VCI LEGAL, Mr. Phung was the founder of the Corporate Legal Department for UNILEVER in Vietnam. Since the early days of economic liberation in Vietnam, Mr. Phung had practiced with COUDERT BROTHERS, the oldest law firm in the United State. Some of the notable ones could be listed down as follows: Sole Country Advisor for various multination companies in Vietnam; Representing US & European Companies in requesting the implementation of the US-VN BTA for trading rights; Advisor for the largest 100% foreign-owned Real Estate Project in Vietnam, which valued up to US$ 450 million; Advisor of legal issues in the first merger of two joint venture companies in Vietnam during the time when there is no legal framework in Vietnam. Key players in various buyout arrangements between the foreign and Vietnamese parties in share transfers and brand acquisitions; Organized anti-counterfeit campaigns on a nationwide basis which have helped to eliminate and control the widely-expand of counterfeit product for a multinational consumer product companies; Organized the first co-operation scheme between six different high-level governmental authorities and a multinational company in anti-counterfeiting Practice areas Corporation & Securities Banking & Finance Merger & Acquisition Investment, Commercial Transaction Antitrust, Venture Capital Intellectual Properties Real Estate International Awards Top Lawyer – Company Mergers and Acquisitions M &A | ASIALAW organization. Top Lawyer – Portfolio Global 500 of the INTERCONTINENTAL FINANCE MAGAZINE. Outstanding Lawyer of the Year – Corporate Law and Finance | CORPORATE INTL GLOBAL AWARD Magazine. Lawyer of the Year – Corporate Law and Finance | GLOBAL LAW EXPERTS ORGANIZATION

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