The Covid-19 health crisis raises substantial challenges for businesses and consumers and has had a significant impact on competition law affecting the consumer sector. While the particular implications will vary by jurisdiction, some common trends may be identified. One broader development is that competition authorities have recognised that certain forms of temporary cooperation between businesses, … Read more

The Indonesian Competition Commission (“KPPU”) has been scrutinizing several business sectors following the global economic slowdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These sectors are primarily healthcare services, medical equipment, and essential commodities (food). One currently booming sector under watch by KPPU is healthcare. On April 14, KPPU issued a press release (Press Release … Read more

On 9 April 2020, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) fined 3 pharmaceutical companies for abuse of dominance in the distribution of injectable calcium gluconate Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API). The three companies were found to be in breach of the PRC’s Anti-Monopoly Law (the AML) between August 2015 and December 2017, by selling at … Read more

The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world, and notably Europe, in recent weeks is placing increasing strain on our economies, in addition to the tragic human impact. Several implications for competition law have already emerged, as indicated (non-exhaustively) below. Competition authorities are hot to respond to price gouging and exploitation allegations Numerous competition authorities … Read more

Our newly updated report on Foreign Investment: Rising Tides of Politics in Regulation is now available. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) filings are an increasingly important piece of the regulatory jigsaw for cross-border M&A. Against a background of mounting protectionist rhetoric, countries traditionally open to investment (such as the US, UK and Australia) are moving towards … Read more

On 1 January 2020, China’s Foreign Investment Law (FIL) and the Implementation Regulations of the Foreign Investment Law came into effect (see our previous post). Under both the FIL and the implementation regulations the State is responsible for establishing a security review system for foreign investments which will require a review of those that could … Read more

On 22 January 2020 the Hong Kong Competition Commission (HKCC) commenced proceedings against Quantr Ltd (Quantr) and one of its directors in the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal). The proceedings concern alleged cartel conduct in 2017 relating to a bidding exercise organised by Ocean Park Corporation (Ocean Park) for the procurement of IT services based on Nintext … Read more

On 1 January 2020, the new Foreign Investment Law of China (FIL) and its implementation regulations came into effect, which overhauled the decades old regime for foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in China. The new regime will have a profound impact on foreign investment in China. Please click here to view our detailed briefing in which … Read more