Competition Law Quarterly Asia Pacific

The second quarter of 2024 has seen a myriad of notable enforcement actions, in both the competition and consumer law space, across the Asia Pacific. These enforcement actions remind the business community that competition and consumer law regulators are sufficiently empowered and well resourced to pursue actions for violations of local laws, and the penalties for non-compliance can be severe. In this edition of the CLQ, we have also expanded coverage to include an update on a notable development in the Middle East (in relation to the Egyptian merger control regime).

In summary:

• in Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched its first legal proceedings against an entity for greenwashing conduct. The proceedings, alleging several violations of the Australian Consumer Law, highlight the ACCC's ongoing commitment to its enforcement priority in respect of environmental claims. Businesses making claims about the environmental or social impact of their products or services must remain vigilant in the representations they make and good starting place is to have regard to the guidance that has been published by the ACCC and Australian Securities and Investments Commission in respect of environmental claims.

• in Singapore, the Competition Commission of Singapore continues its focus on consumer law enforcement by investigation into a furniture retailer for engaging in unfair trading practices by posting fake online reviews;

• in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Competition Tribunal has issued penalties (totalling HK 1,312,000 (c. USD 167,927) in the first cartel case relating to a government subsidy scheme. The Tribunal's decision marks a significant milestone in Hong Kong's competition law enforcement and acts as a timely reminder that businesses must stay vigilant and proactive in maintaining compliance to avoid severe penalties;

• in China, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has published a penalty decision against two Chinese companies for failure to notify a notifiable transaction. The SAMR imposed a fine of CNY 1.5 million (c. USD 207,000) on two companies for establishing a joint venture without notifying the SAMR. This is also the first publicly announced failure to file decision and record high penalty since the amendment of the Anti-monopoly Law (AML) in August 2022, nearly two years ago;

• in Taiwan, the Taipei High Administrative Court has upheld TWD 45.45m (c. USD 1.4m) in total cartel fines imposed on nine container terminal firms, including Evergreen International Storage and Transport, in 2021. The decision follows from a protracted litigation commencing in 2016, when the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) fined 21 entities, including the nine container terminal firms for concerted practices;

• meanwhile:

• in Cambodia, the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce has issued a decision detailing the Cambodian Competition Commission's (CCC) powers to grant leniency to a party involved in an "unlawful horizontal agreement". The Decision provides guidance to prospective leniency applicants in Cambodia and potentially signals an intention by the CCC to focus its investigative and enforcement efforts on cartel conduct in the near future;
• in the Philippines, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has closely scrutinised potential mergers and acquisitions over the past quarter, and has commenced Phase II reviews of various transactions. These cases demonstrate the PCC's sophistication as a regulator and preparedness to extend review timelines to comprehensively assess mergers and acquisitions subject to the Philippines merger regime; and
• in Egypt, in May 2024 (ahead of the new pre-closing merger control regime coming into effect from 1 June), the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) issued further guidelines and a commonly asked questions and answers supplement document, providing further details and clarifications in connection with the new pre-closing merger regime.

The interactive map was last updated on 9 July 2024.

CLQ Editorial team: Angie Ng, Partner; Adelle Elhosni, Senior Associate; Kailun Ji, Senior Associate; Chelsea Toner, Associate; Danny Xie, Associate and Elise Miller, Associate.