Competition Law Quarterly Asia Pacific
05 November 2024
The third quarter of 2024 has witnessed a series of significant enforcement actions throughout the Asia-Pacific region, highlighting the strong dedication of regulatory authorities to uphold fair competition and compliance with local laws.
In summary:
- in China, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation fined a data services company for abusing its dominant position by taking into account its ability to control and process data, marking China's first antitrust enforcement action involving data resources. Besides, the State Administration for Market Regulation published model cases using reminder letters as a soft tool to address antitrust risks, emphasizing the importance of proactive compliance management for business in China to navigate the evolving regulatory landscape.
- in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Competition Commission announced its first criminal prosecution for non-compliance with its investigation powers in a recent cartel case, highlighting the severe consequences for businesses and individuals who obstruct investigations.
- in the Philippines and Malaysia, enforcement against cartels remains a critical focus. Businesses should continue to be vigilant against anti-competitive practices. On the merger front, the Philippine Competition Commission also recently fine-tuned its merger regime by publishing the Guidelines on Merger Remedies, detailing its approach to assess remedy proposals and address competition concerns in mergers.
- in Singapore, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) granted conditional approval for the commercial cooperation between Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia, demonstrating the importance of early engagement with the CCCS to expedite approval processes. The CCCS has also announced the first case against companies that were formed for the purposes of facilitating bid-rigging conduct and against an undertaking in his individual capacity.
The interactive map was last updated on 1 November 2024.
CLQ Editorial team: Angie Ng, Partner; Adelle Elhosni, Senior Associate; Kailun Ji, Senior Associate; Chelsea Toner, Associate; Danny Xie, Associate and Yiyun Feng, Associate.
